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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2015‒12‒20
six papers chosen by |
| By: | Armando Barrientos (IPC-IG); Edmund Amann (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "As the world begins to wake up to the dire social and economic consequences of rising inequality, we must recognise that it is not an inevitable side-effect of economic growth and development. Many Latin American countries, and Brazil in particular, have demonstrated it is possible to achieve inclusive growth, which has reduced inequality and poverty."(...) |
| Keywords: | Brazil, development |
| Date: | 2015–12 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:ifocus:33&r=lam |
| By: | Rodríguez Weber, Javier |
| Abstract: | El presente Documento de Trabajo contiene una relación precisa de los procedimientos seguidos para la estimación de series relativas al ingreso y su distribución entre personas y sectores en Chile entre 1860 y 1970, así como de los resultados obtenidos. El mismo se basa en el capítulo 3 y los apéndices estadísticos y metodológicos de la tesis doctoral del autor (Rodríguez Weber 2014). En el texto se analizan en primer lugar las alternativas metodológicas de que disponen los historiadores económicos para estimar la distribución del ingreso, así como alguno de los problemas y limitaciones que estas plantean. En la tercera sección se describen en detalle los procedimientos seguidos y las fuentes utilizadas para construir series de desigualdad entre 1860 y 1970. Finalmente, estos resultados se someten a crítica, demostrando que las tendencias estimadas son robustas a la utilización de distintas fuentes y la opción por decisiones metodológicas y supuestos alternativos. El documento incluye asimismo un apéndice estadístico con los resultados obtenidos. |
| Keywords: | distribución del ingreso, desigualdad, salarios, Chile, tablas sociales, metodología |
| JEL: | C18 C82 N36 O15 Y10 |
| Date: | 2015–12–15 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68400&r=lam |
| By: | Silvia Borzutsky; Mark Hyde |
| Abstract: | Abstract This article addresses a recurring debate in social policy analysis, but with a contemporary twist. Which model of pension provision is most likely to augment the financial well-being of Chilean workers in retirement: social insurance or private savings? The analysis developed here evaluates both models against the requirements of justice and poverty reduction. The neoliberal rationale for pensions privatisation is typically articulated as a synthesis of deontological and consequentialist imperatives, emphasising the centrality of the individual’s inalienable rights, but permitting a degree of intrusive paternalism to diminish the prevalence of economic disadvantage among retirees. Our analysis of empirical evidence regarding pension design and outcomes in Chile suggests that privatisation has failed to meet the objectives that are shaped by this normative repertoire and in fact it has contributed to keeping almost 20 percent of the retirees below the poverty level. While it represents a fundamental departure from the free market model of neoliberalism, we find that a well-designed social insurance arrangement that is universal in scope, and redistributive, would augment the freedom of Chilean workers and also reduce poverty. |
| Date: | 2015 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:bwp:bwppap:21415&r=lam |
| By: | Reis, Marcos; Bustelo, Santiago |
| Abstract: | This article analyzes from a strategic approach the relationship between South America and China, focusing on the current reform process in the largest Asian economy and its possible impacts on South American countries. It discusses the many changes that the Chinese economy has gone through in recent decades and also its most recent trends, characterized by a new era of slower growth, the so-called Chinese "new normal". Based on this perspective, the article studies China´s evolving relationship with Latin America, especially South America, and focuses on a closer examination of the Sino-Brazilian relationship as a case study to derive proposals for a strategic agenda for the coming years. After a brief introduction, the evolution of the economic and trade relations between China and South America in the first decade of the XXI century is analyzed. Another section discusses the current structural changes that the Chinese economy is facing under its reform process and its impacts on South America. The fourth part specifically studies the relationship between Brazil and China in the last years, as a case study to better understand the growing importance of China for South American countries. Finally, section five presents the concluding remarks. |
| Keywords: | Latin America–China relationship; Brazil-China Relationship; South-South cooperation. |
| JEL: | O10 O2 O21 |
| Date: | 2015–12–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:68383&r=lam |
| By: | IPC-IG (IPC-IG) |
| Abstract: | "Poverty and extreme poverty have been decreasing significantly in Brazil. Between 2004 and 2013, poverty decreased from 20 per cent to just over 9 per cent of the population, while extreme poverty fell from around 7 per cent to 4 per cent in the same period. A considerable part of this decrease was due to the expansion of the labour market and significant increases in transfers to the poor, both by social security and through the Bolsa Família programme. Unfortunately, this progress has stagnated. Between 2012 and 2013, extreme poverty increased slightly, and poverty remained stable. The labour market is deteriorating rapidly, and the fiscal scenario has gone from being relatively favourable to quite concerning. Data indicate that the two driving forces behind the reduction in poverty rates?the labour market and transfers to the poor?are unable to keep the same pace they had in the previous decade." (...) |
| Keywords: | atlas, pobreza, norte, nordeste, Brasil |
| Date: | 2015–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ipc:pubipc:11&r=lam |
| By: | Marcela Jaime Torres (University of Gothenburg – University of Concepcion) |
| Abstract: | This paper investigates the effects of an information campaign aimed at encouraging residential water-savings in Colombia. The experiment was organized as a randomised control trial, consisting of monthly delivery of consumption reports including normative messages during one year. We first evaluate the direct and indirect effects of the campaign, and then we investigate whether indirect effects are due to social networks. Results indicate that social information and appeal to norm-based behaviour has decreased water use by 5.4% during the first year following the intervention. We also find significant but short-term evidence of spillover effects. Nevertheless, these effects cannot be explained by social networks alone when social connectedness is proxied by both social and geographic proximity. |
| Date: | 2014 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:lae:wpaper:201469&r=lam |