Labouring against Neoliberalism: Unions and Patterns of Reform in Latin America

2003 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-88 ◽  
Author(s):  
RAÚL L. MADRID
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Tax Reforms ◽  
Pension Reforms ◽  
Pension Systems ◽  
Latin American Countries

In recent years Latin American countries have enacted sweeping privatisation measures and major trade, financial and tax reforms, but they have moved much more slowly to reform their pension systems and labour laws. This pattern of reform partly reflects differences in the intensity of organised labour's opposition to the reforms. Organised labour has undertaken greater efforts to block labour law reforms and, to a lesser extent, pension reforms, because these measures impose severe losses on more unions than other types of reforms. These greater efforts, moreover, have had significant effects on policy outcomes. The article shows how organised labour reacted quite differently to various types of market-oriented reforms in Argentina and Mexico in the 1990s, and describes how the reaction of the unions helped shape the fate of the reform proposals.

scholarly journals Non-Contributory Benefits, Pension Re-Reforms and the Social Protection of Older Women in Latin America

2016 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 361-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Camila Arza
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Gender Gaps ◽  
Unequal Distribution ◽  
Pension Systems ◽  
The Social ◽  
Latin American Countries

Gender inequalities are a key issue for most pension systems in Latin America. Contributory pension schemes that link benefit entitlements to work and earnings tend to reflect in the benefits they offer the gender gaps that prevail in the labour market. This deepened with the implementation of individual private accounts as part of structural pension reforms in a number of countries. This article evaluates how recent pension policies, including measures geared to coverage expansion and so-called pension ‘re-reforms’, have addressed gender gaps in pensions in four Latin American countries. It shows that the expansion of non-contributory pensions and a greater emphasis on redistribution are important for the protection of older women in a context of gendered labour markets and the unequal distribution of paid and unpaid work between women and men. Looking at the cases of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile, the article identifies progress but also the persistence of gender gaps in pensions and emphasises the need for further measures to promote adequate social protection for older women.

Attitudes toward public pensions in Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela: Testing self-interest and political ideology theories in Latin American countries

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-198
Author(s):  
JoEllen Pederson ◽  
K Russell Shekha
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Public Pensions ◽  
Government Responsibility ◽  
Pension Systems ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Self Interest ◽  
Modeling Techniques ◽  
Latin American Countries

The historical strength of Latin American public pension systems and the changes many countries are making in the contemporary period warrant understanding attitudes about public pensions in Latin America. Data were examined for three countries: Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela, to see whether commonly tested welfare state theories explain individual differences in attitudes in these countries. Using basic multilevel modeling techniques, we find both individual- and country-level differences in attitudes toward government responsibility for and spending on public pensions. Understanding what predicts these attitudes in Latin America will help improve approaches to social welfare in this region.

Public spending, corruption, and income inequality: A comparative analysis of Asia and Latin America

2016 ◽  
Vol 38 (3) ◽  
pp. 298-315 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathew YH Wong
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Regional Differences ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Budgetary Process ◽  
Vote Buying ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Latin American Countries

Based on data from 16 Asian and 18 Latin American countries from 1996 to 2009, this article argues that corruption does indeed affect the distributive outcomes of government spending, but not necessarily in the expected direction. The incentives for bureaucrats and politicians to abuse their power during the budgetary process suggests that corruption should concentrate public funds in the hands of elites, exacerbating inequality. However, this should only be expected when corruption takes the form of looting (embezzlement). When it takes the form of cheating (vote-buying), it may actually reduce inequality as it involves resource distribution and building of clientelistic linkages. It is the level of political competition rather than regional differences that determines the distributional effects of corruption in Asia and Latin America. This article has profound implications for the study of corruption and policy outcomes, suggesting that the level of political competition is a key factor in determining the outcomes of corruption.

scholarly journals COVID-19 Mortality Rate and Its Incidence in Latin America: Dependence on Demographic and Economic Variables

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (13) ◽  
pp. 6900
Author(s):  
Javier Cifuentes-Faura
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Mortality Rate ◽  
Population Density ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Latin American Countries ◽  
Quality Infrastructure

The pandemic caused by COVID-19 has left millions infected and dead around the world, with Latin America being one of the most affected areas. In this work, we have sought to determine, by means of a multiple regression analysis and a study of correlations, the influence of population density, life expectancy, and proportion of the population in vulnerable employment, together with GDP per capita, on the mortality rate due to COVID-19 in Latin American countries. The results indicated that countries with higher population density had lower numbers of deaths. Population in vulnerable employment and GDP showed a positive influence, while life expectancy did not appear to significantly affect the number of COVID-19 deaths. In addition, the influence of these variables on the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 was analyzed. It can be concluded that the lack of resources can be a major burden for the vulnerable population in combating COVID-19 and that population density can ensure better designed institutions and quality infrastructure to achieve social distancing and, together with effective measures, lower death rates.

scholarly journals COVID-19 in Latin America: a first glance to the mortality

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nubia Muñoz
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Mortality Rates ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
Death Toll ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
The Us ◽  
Latin American Countries

It is too early to know which will be the final death toll from the Covid-19 or SARS-CoV-2 virus epidemy in Latin America since the epidemy is still active and we will not know when it will end. The curve for new infections and deaths has not reached yet a peak (Figure 1). In addition, we know little about the epidemiology of this new virus. The daily litany of the number of people infected with the number of admissions to hospitals and intensive care units and the number of deaths guides health authorities to plan health services and politicians to gauge the degree of confinement necessary to control the transmission of the virus, but it says little about the magnitude of the problem if we do not relate it to the population at risk. At the end of the pandemic, we will be able to estimate age-standardized death rates for the different countries, but until then the crude death rates will provide a first glance or snapshot of the death toll and impact of the pandemic from March to May 2020. These rates are well below those estimated in other countries in Europe and North America: Belgium (82.6), Spain (58.0), the United Kingdom (57.5), Italy (55.0), France (42.9), Sweden (41.4), and the US (30.7). (Johns Hopkins CSSE, May 30, 2020). However, in the European countries and the US the number of deaths has reached a peak, while this is not the case in Latin American countries. (Figure 1). It should be taken into account that the above rates are crude and therefore, some of the differences could be due to the fact that European countries have a larger proportion of the population over 70 years of age in whom higher mortality rates have been reported.

Latin America and the Socio-Economic Impact of the Cuban Revolution

1962 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro C. M. Teichert
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Economic Impact ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Cuban Revolution ◽  
Good Neighbor Policy ◽  
Socio Economic Impact ◽  
Imminent Threat ◽  
Good Neighbor ◽  
The Military ◽  
Latin American Countries

The Cuban revolution has profoundly shaken the economic and political foundation traditional in most of the 20 Latin American republics. The demand by the rest of Latin America for Cuban type reforms has also required a reappraisal of U. S.-Latin American relations, which with the breaking off of diplomatic intercourse between Cuba and the U. S., January 4, 1961, have reached their lowest point since the initiation in the mid 1930's of the Good Neighbor Policy by President Roosevelt. Furthermore, the spread of the Cuban revolution, with its ideals and aspirations for the fulfilment of the age-old political, social, and economic aspirations of the downtrodden masses, is now an imminent threat for the remaining undemocratic Latin American governments. There is no denying the fact that most Latin American countries are still run by an oligarchy of landlords and the military.

Leadership Training in Latin America

1993 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-17
Author(s):  
Alice B. Lentz
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Leadership Training ◽  
Developing Economies ◽  
Business Leaders ◽  
Private Higher Education ◽  
Enterprise Growth ◽  
The University ◽  
Latin American Countries

Alice Lentz offers a brief view of the role of the Americas Fund for Independent Universities (AFIU) in relation to significant initiatives in various Latin American countries. In a region where the function and development of private higher education institutions is especially important, the focus of the AFIU's activities is on private universities' ability to provide trained business leaders with the skills necessary to meet the challenges of enterprise growth in these developing economies. She mentions in particular the strengthening of financing capabilities within the university, and the evolution of three-way partnerships among business corporations, AFIU, and universities in Latin America.

scholarly journals Democratic Values, Religiosity, and Support for Same-Sex Marriage in Latin America

2017 ◽  
Vol 59 (4) ◽  
pp. 75-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle L. Dion ◽  
Jordi Díez
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Religious Values ◽  
Democratic Values ◽  
Same Sex ◽  
Same Sex Marriage ◽  
Same Sex Couples ◽  
Latin American Countries

AbstractLatin America has been at the forefront of the expansion of rights for same-sex couples. Proponents of same-sex marriage frame the issue as related to human rights and democratic deepening; opponents emphasize morality tied to religious values. Elite framing shapes public opinion when frames resonate with individuals’ values and the frame source is deemed credible. Using surveys in 18 Latin American countries in 2010 and 2012, this article demonstrates that democratic values are associated with support for same-sex marriage while religiosity reduces support, particularly among strong democrats. The tension between democratic and religious values is particularly salient for women, people who live outside the capital city, and people who came of age during or before democratization.

scholarly journals Life expectancy and mortality in 363 cities of Latin America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Usama Bilal ◽  
◽  
Philipp Hessel ◽  
Carolina Perez-Ferrer ◽  
Yvonne L. Michael ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiovascular Disease ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Life Expectancy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Causes Of Death ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Noncommunicable Diseases ◽  
Modifiable Factors ◽  
Specific Mortality ◽  
Latin American Countries

AbstractThe concept of a so-called urban advantage in health ignores the possibility of heterogeneity in health outcomes across cities. Using a harmonized dataset from the SALURBAL project, we describe variability and predictors of life expectancy and proportionate mortality in 363 cities across nine Latin American countries. Life expectancy differed substantially across cities within the same country. Cause-specific mortality also varied across cities, with some causes of death (unintentional and violent injuries and deaths) showing large variation within countries, whereas other causes of death (communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional, cancer, cardiovascular disease and other noncommunicable diseases) varied substantially between countries. In multivariable mixed models, higher levels of education, water access and sanitation and less overcrowding were associated with longer life expectancy, a relatively lower proportion of communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutritional deaths and a higher proportion of deaths from cancer, cardiovascular disease and other noncommunicable diseases. These results highlight considerable heterogeneity in life expectancy and causes of death across cities of Latin America, revealing modifiable factors that could be amenable to urban policies aimed toward improving urban health in Latin America and more generally in other urban environments.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document