Two Decades of Social Investment in Latin America: Outcomes, Shortcomings and Achievements of Conditional Cash Transfers

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 435-449 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodoros Papadopoulos ◽  
Ricardo Velázquez Leyer
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Investment Policies ◽  
Early Twenty

Conditional Cash Transfer programmes (CCTs) have been at the core of the remarkable expansion of social protection in Latin America in the early twenty-first century. Our article reviews the origins of CCTs in the Social Investment (SI) approach to social policy design, explores their characteristics and traces their expansion in Latin America. It further questions whether CCTs designed under the influence of SI can generate long-term substantial improvements in social outcomes. Our analysis suggests that while CCTs have evidently produced a number of positive outputs they are not, on their own, enough to achieve the aim of reducing poverty. CCTs appear to be more effective in poverty alleviation when they are accompanied by – or form part of – a wider package of measures that enhance social and employment rights, integrating workers into the formal economy under better conditions. We conclude that unless the structural deficiencies that shape many of the Latin American welfare regimes are addressed, the potential of social investment policies, like CCTs, to combat poverty will remain limited.

scholarly journals Introduction: Assessing the Effects of Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin American Societies in the Early Twenty-First Century

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 417-420
Author(s):  
Theodoros Papadopoulos ◽  
Ricardo Velázquez Leyer
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Policy Instruments ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
First Century ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
The Social

Latin America has emerged as a social policy ‘laboratory’ in recent decades and most prominent among the social policy innovations developed in the region are the so-called Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes (Cecchini et al., 2015; Borges Sugiyama, 2011; Martínez Franzoni et al., 2009). They have been widely promoted by international organisations across the world as policy instruments that enhance human capital and the agency of participants while reducing poverty and inequality and promoting co-responsibility and self-help in the long-term (see Sandberg, 2015; Bastagli, 2009; Lomelí, 2008, 2009).

scholarly journals Transferências de Renda Condicionada na América Latina e Bolsa Família no Brasil: uma discussão sobre desenvolvimentos da política social

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 22
Author(s):  
Carolina Alves Vestena
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Theoretical Research ◽  
Social Policies ◽  
Bolsa Familia ◽  
America Latina ◽  
Political Spectrum

ResumoNos últimos, transformações têm sido observadas no espectro político latino-americano, o que se reflete também na condução das políticas sociais na região. Exemplo disso, no caso brasileiro, são as recentes mudanças no programa Bolsa Família, uma das políticas mais reconhecidas internacionalmente neste âmbito. Nesse sentido, o presente artigo tem por objetivo apresentar uma análise do perfil do programa em sua elaboração e no interior do contexto latino-americano das políticas de transferência de renda. Assim, permite refletir sobre o paradigma de política social presente no continente e suas influências no modelo brasileiro. A partir de levantamento teórico sobre as políticas sociais na região e de dados empíricos sobre seus impactos, são destacadas as tendências de desenvolvimento observadas e discute-se o papel desempenhado pela política social hegemônica nos últimos anos no Brasil.Palavras-chaves: Bolsa Família, transferência de renda condicionada, América Latina, política social.***Las Transferencias de Renta Condicionadas en América Latina y Bolsa Familia en Brasil: una discusión sobre los desarrollos de la política socialResumenEn los últimos, se han observado cambios en el espectro político de América Latina, lo que se refleja también en la gestión de las políticas sociales en la región. Ejemplo, en Brasil, son los recientes cambios en el programa Bolsa Familia, una de las políticas más reconocidas internacionalmente en este ámbito. En este sentido, este artículo tiene por objetivo presentar un análisis del perfil del programa en su preparación y en el contexto latinoamericano de las políticas de transferencia de renta. Así, que permite reflexionar sobre el paradigma de la política social en el continente y sus influencias en el modelo brasileño. De la investigación teórica sobre las políticas sociales de la región y los datos empíricos sobre su impacto se ponen de relieve las tendencias de desarrollo observadas y se discute el papel de la política social hegemónica en los últimos años en Brasil.Palabras claves: Bolsa Familia, transferencia de renta condicionada, América Latina, política social.***Conditional Cash Transfers in Latin America and Bolsa Família Program in Brazil: a discussion on development of social policiesAbstractIn the last years, changes have been observed in the Latin American political spectrum, which also has reflects on the social policies in the region. The recent changes in the Bolsa Família program in Brazil, one of the most internationally recognized policies in this area, exemplify these transformations. Hereof this article aims to present an analysis of the Bolsa Família profile in its implementation and within the Latin American context of cash transfer policies. From this perspective it is possible to analyze the paradigm of social policy on the continent and its influences on the Brazilian model. From theoretical research on social policies in the region and empirical data on their impact, the development trends and the role of the hegemonic social policy in recent years in Brazil will be highlighted and discussed.Keywords: Bolsa Família, conditional cash transfer, Latin America, social policy. 

scholarly journals The Latin American and Nigerian Conditional Cash Transfer Experience: A Comparative Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 20
Author(s):  
Ikenna Samuel Umezurike ◽  
Ibraheem Salisu Adam
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Protection Strategies ◽  
Capital Development

Despite the recent economic growth in Nigeria, poverty remains a social problem. One of the strategies employed by the Nigerian government and some development partners towards solving this problem is the deployment of social protection instruments, such as Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs), which aim at stemming the tide of poverty and vulnerability. This study uses the secondary research method to examine the extent to which the Latin American CCT model influenced the design and operation of the Nigerian CCT programme. The policy diffusion model adopted for the study posits that the success of CCT programmes in Latin America has stimulated its extension to many developing countries outside the region. The findings from the review of selected literature explain the rationale for CCTs as short-term poverty reduction and long-term human capital development. Admittedly, a nexus exists between the Latin American and Nigerian strategies. Yet the study concludes that the Latin American model cannot adequately serve as a blueprint for the Nigeria strategy, given that underlying conditions in upper middle-income Latin American countries are clearly different from those present in low income or lower middle-income African countries like Nigeria. The study recommends urgent implementation of the National Social Protection Policy; a review of the current CCT programme in Nigeria every two years and extensive research into social protection strategies.

The Social Investment Perspective, Conditional Cash Transfer Programmes and the Welfare Mix: Peru and Bolivia

2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 479-493 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nora Nagels
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Feminist Perspective ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
State Orientation ◽  
The Social ◽  
Welfare Mix

Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programmes have spread across Latin America since the late 1990s. They constitute one of the major changes in social policy in Latin America in the last twenty years (Barrientos, 2009). This innovation has significantly influenced the welfare mix (Esping-Andersen, 1990). Those who examine the welfare mix from a feminist perspective (Orloff, 1996; Martínez, 2008) insist that it is necessary to take into account the gender consequences of changing this mix. Based on a qualitative analysis of CCT programmes in Peru and Bolivia, this article makes two arguments. First, CCT programmes demonstrate that instead of being purely liberal or even neoliberal, the actions of the state in the production of welfare are now grounded from the perspective of social investment. Second, in Peru and Bolivia, the gendered impacts of this new state orientation nonetheless reinforce maternalistic and coercive practices.

scholarly journals Conditional Cash Transfer Programs and Electoral Accountability: Evidence from Latin America

2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 74-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nara Pavão
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Performance Studies ◽  
Detrimental Effect ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Electoral Accountability ◽  
Transfer Programs ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer Programs ◽  
Latin American Countries

AbstractDo conditional cash transfer programs reduce voters' incentives to hold their government accountable for its performance? Studies show that these programs generate considerable electoral returns for the governments responsible for them. One important and unexplored question is whether these popular programs have also changed the landscape of accountability in Latin America. Survey data from 16 Latin American countries that have adopted CCT programs do not offer support for the claim that such programs have a detrimental effect on electoral accountability for corruption and for the economy. Only in countries where CCT programs do not follow strict rules do beneficiaries attribute relatively less weight to the government's economic performance, but this effect is marginal. These findings fill an important gap in the literature and offer reassuring evidence that cash transfers can alleviate poverty while preserving voters' incentives to exercise electoral accountability in crucial areas of government performance.

Recent Developments

2021 ◽  
pp. 111-130
Author(s):  
Anton Hemerijck ◽  
Stefano Ronchi
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Welfare Regimes ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Early Twenty ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Impact

The trajectory of developed welfare states in the early twenty-first century is perhaps best understood through the idea of ‘social investment’. The first section of the chapter defines social investment as a sui generis welfare paradigm, distinct from both the Keynesian–Beveridgean welfare state and its neoliberal critique, and analytically rooted in the three interrelated policy functions of lifelong human capital stocks, work–life-balanced flows, and inclusive buffers. The second section identifies the trajectories of (non-)social investment reform that have cross-cut welfare regimes in the past two decades. Section three takes stock of the impact of the economic crisis on recent welfare state developments. The final section concludes by reflecting on the challenges and opportunities for welfare reform after the Great Recession. Most notably, it highlights how high public spending on established social protection commitments seemingly operates as a ‘productive constraint’ that accelerates social investment reform, reinforcing employment and productivity growth, to sustain popular welfare states.

scholarly journals Social Investment Policies in Chile and Latin America: Towards Equal Opportunities for Women and Children?

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 607-626 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILKE STAAB
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Equal Opportunities ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Investment Policies ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Women And Children ◽  
Latin American Countries

AbstractSocial investment ideas are increasingly permeating social and care policy-making in Latin America. In this article, I analyse a variety of instruments which have been used to ‘invest in children’ across a range of Latin American countries to then zoom in on Chile, where early childhood education and care have attained a prominent place on the welfare agenda in recent years. This policy interest materialised in ‘Chile Grows With You’, an integrated child development strategy whose title resonates strongly with the global narrative on social investment. Engaging with the programme's aim of creating ‘equal opportunities from the cradle’, I discuss the transformative potential and the limitations of childcare service expansion in a highly unequal context.

Nesting Expectations: What Can the Mexican and Argentinean Cash Transfers Tell Us about the Development of Development?

1969 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-169
Author(s):  
Andrés Dapuez
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Cash Transfers ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfers ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Transfer Programs

Latin American cash transfer programs have been implemented aiming at particular anticipatory scenarios. Given that the fulfillment of cash transfer objectives can be calculated neither empirically nor rationally a priori, I analyse these programs in this article using the concept of an “imaginary future.” I posit that cash transfer implementers in Latin America have entertained three main fictional expectations: social pacification in the short term, market inclusion in the long term, and the construction of a more distributive society in the very long term. I classify and date these developing expectations into three waves of conditional cash transfers implementation.

The use of economic instruments for pollution control in Latin America: lessons for future policy design*

2010 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
MARCELO CAFFERA
Keyword(s):  
Political Economy ◽  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Pollution Control ◽  
Policy Design ◽  
Policy Recommendation ◽  
Economic Instruments ◽  
Future Policy ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Latin American Countries

ABSTRACTI review the few programs implemented in Latin America to control pollution with direct economic instruments and draw general lessons for the future implementation of these instruments in the region. The available evidence suggests that a combination of low capacities and political economy issues negatively affected the implementation of these programs. As a result, the capacity of the economic instruments to induce emission reductions cost effectively and their future political viability in these countries in the short- or medium-run may have been compromised. This present state of affairs provides more evidence in favor of the policy recommendation that Latin American countries should build local capacities before implementing direct economic instruments, than in favor of the alternative that these countries should adapt direct economic instruments to their institutional and political characteristics.

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