The Informal Economy and Social Programs in Mexico: A Critique

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-145
Author(s):  
Tamar Diana Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Informal Economy ◽  
Social Protest ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Seguro Popular ◽  
Neoliberal Reforms ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Capital Humano

In the wake of neoliberal reforms that devastated the country, Mexico and the World Bank converged on providing at least two social programs in the guise of “humanitarian” capitalism. Progresa, also known as Oportunidades and more recently Prospera, involves a workfare-based cash transfer program aimed at enhancing the human capital of future generations. The program has been criticized for its exploitation of the work of mothers. Seguro Popular involves extending basic health care to those employed in the informal economy. Both, with all their weaknesses and exploitative aspects, serve the function of providing skills and enhanced health status to the subproletariat in the hope that a competitive formal economy will expand and employ them; they are also intended to mute social protest. A raíz de las reformas neoliberales que devastaron el país, México y el Banco Mundial acordaron la creación de por lo menos dos programas sociales disfrazados como capitalismo “humanitario.” Progresa, también conocido como Oportunidades y más recientemente Prospera, es un programa de asistencia de transferencia de efectivo dirigido a mejorar el capital humano de futuras generaciones, y ha sido criticado por explotar el trabajo materno. El Seguro Popular extiende servicios de atención de salud básica a los empleados en la economía informal. Ambos, con todas sus debilidades y características explotadoras, tienen por objeto mejorar las habilidades y estado de salud del sub-proletariado, con la esperanza de que se amplíe una economía competitiva formal que los emplee. También buscan silenciar las protestas sociales.

Mexico’s alleged influence on poverty reduction strategies in Latin America

2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 13-40
Author(s):  
Julio Boltvinik ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Middle Power ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
Reduction Strategies ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer Program

This paper presents a case study of the origins of Progresa–Oportunidades, the conditional cash transfer program for which Mexico has gained an international reputation. The main argument is that, though Mexico is held up as a leader in this area, this is little more than a façade. Rather, Mexico is used by the World Bank to propel its favoured policies and NAFTA has limited its ability to engage in autonomous policymaking. Furthermore, it is shown that the alleged role of Mexico as an emerging power is misleading and that we can best characterize it as a sinking middle power.

Mexico's Rural Poor and Targeted Educational and Health Programs

2015 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 207-216
Author(s):  
Tamar Diana Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Urban Centers ◽  
Seguro Popular ◽  
Rural Regions ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
First Case ◽  
Target Individual ◽  
The International Monetary Fund ◽  
Production Approach

A paradigm shift from the articulation of modes of production approach to the livelihoods diversification approach, occurring in the early 1990s, coincided and was symbiotic with neoliberal and capitalist interventions among the peasant poor, whether they continue to live in rural regions of origin or have migrated to urban centers. Although partially successful in relieving the dire situation of some of the poor, programs such as Progresa/Oportunidades and Seguro Popular (Popular Health Insurance) in Mexico have many flaws, including in the first case, increasing burdens on mothers and, in the second case, underfunding and exclusionary factors. Endorsed by international financial institutions such as the World Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund, they target individual behavior in the interests of poverty reduction. They also rest on a debatable hope that by skilling and insuring improved health among the dispossessed, a more adequate labor force will be available for the promised, yet unrealized, expansion of the formal economy.

DID PUBLIC CASH TRANSFER CROWD OUT INTER-HOUSEHOLD TRANSFERS IN INDONESIA? EVIDENCE FROM "BANTUAN LANGSUNG TUNAI /BLT"

INFO ARTHA ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 67-84
Author(s):  
Corry Wulandari ◽  
Nadezhda Baryshnikova
Keyword(s):  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Poor People ◽  
Crowding Out ◽  
Transfer System ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Exact Matching ◽  
The Public ◽  
Indonesia Family Life Survey ◽  
Public Transfers ◽  
The Government

In 2005 the Government of Indonesia introduced an unconditional cash transfer program called the ‘Bantuan Langsung Tunai’ (BLT), aimed at assisting poor people who were suffering from the removal of a fuel subsidy. There are concerns, however, that the introduction of a public transfer system can negatively affect inter-household transfers through the crowding-out effect, which exists when donor households reduce the amount of their transfers in line with public transfers received from the government. The poor may not therefore have received any meaningful impact from the public cash transfer, as they potentially receive fewer transfers from inter-household private donors. For the government to design a public transfer system, it is necessary to properly understand the dynamics of private transfer behaviour. Hence, this study evaluates whether there exists a crowding-out effect of public transfers on inter-household transfers in Indonesia.Using data from the Indonesia Family Life Survey (IFLS) and by applying Coarsened Exact Matching (CEM) and Difference-in-differences (DID) approaches, this study found that the likelihood to receive transfers from other family members (non-co-resident) reduces when the household receives BLT. However, there is no significant impact of BLT on transfers from parents and friends.

scholarly journals Health Services Use and Health Outcomes among Informal Economy Workers Compared with Formal Economy Workers: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3189
Author(s):  
Nisha Naicker ◽  
Frank Pega ◽  
David Rees ◽  
Spo Kgalamono ◽  
Tanusha Singh
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Health ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Odds Ratio ◽  
Health Services Use ◽  
Quality Of Evidence ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
Relative Differences ◽  
Services Use

Background: There are approximately two billion workers in the informal economy globally. Compared to workers in the formal economy, these workers are often marginalised with minimal or no benefits from occupational health and safety regulations, labour laws, social protection and/or health care. Thus, informal economy workers may have higher occupational health risks compared to their formal counterparts. Our objective was to systematically review and meta-analyse evidence on relative differences (or inequalities) in health services use and health outcomes among informal economy workers, compared with formal economy workers. Methods: We searched PubMed and EMBASE in March 2020 for studies published in 1999–2020. The eligible population was informal economy workers. The comparator was formal economy workers. The eligible outcomes were general and occupational health services use, fatal and non-fatal occupational injuries, HIV, tuberculosis, musculoskeletal disorders, depression, noise-induced hearing loss and respiratory infections. Two authors independently screened records, extracted data, assessed risk of bias with RoB-SPEO, and assessed quality of evidence with GRADE. Inverse variance meta-analyses were conducted with random effects. Results: Twelve studies with 1,637,297 participants from seven countries in four WHO regions (Africa, Americas, Eastern Mediterranean and Western Pacific) were included. Compared with formal economy workers, informal economy workers were found to be less likely to use any health services (odds ratio 0.89, 95% confidence interval 0.85–0.94, four studies, 195,667 participants, I2 89%, low quality of evidence) and more likely to have depression (odds ratio 5.02, 95% confidence interval 2.72–9.27, three studies, 26,260 participants, I2 87%, low quality of evidence). We are very uncertain about the other outcomes (very-low quality of evidence). Conclusion: Informal economy workers may be less likely than formal economy workers to use any health services and more likely to have depression. The evidence is uncertain for relative differences in the other eligible outcomes. Further research is warranted to strengthen the current body of evidence and needed to improve population health and reduce health inequalities among workers.

Poverty Relief Programs in Postcommunist Countries: A Case Study on the Albanian and Chinese Programs

SAGE Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 215824402110278
Author(s):  
Gentian Qejvanaj
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Basic Income ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Means Testing ◽  
Poverty Relief ◽  
Private Expenditure ◽  
Working Age ◽  
Working Age Population ◽  
The Cost

Social assistance is a cash transfer program targeting the poorest households. China has created the Dibao (DB), meaning minimum livelihood guarantee, the most extensive unconditional cash transfer program globally with over 70 million people covered, whereas in Albania, the Ndhime Ekonomike (NE) meaning financial help covers around 15% of the total working-age population. Both programs are means-tested, have strict requirements for eligibility, and have been enlarged and modified in time to improve targeting and tackling leakage. In this article, we will look at similarities and common issues first, and then calculate the cost of enlarging both programs to all working-age population with no means-testing. We argue that a UBI (universal basic income) can increase private expenditure in health and education while costing less than 1% of gross domestic product (GDP) in both countries’ rural areas. We will conclude by looking at how the COVID-19 outbreak is pushing developing countries toward a UBI by first adopting a temporary basic income (TBI).

scholarly journals Combination of conditional cash transfer program and environmental health interventions reduces child mortality: an ecological study of Brazilian municipalities

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anelise Andrade de Souza ◽  
Sueli Aparecida Mingoti ◽  
Rômulo Paes-Sousa ◽  
Leo Heller
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Total Population ◽  
Conditional Cash Transfer ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Waste Collection ◽  
High Coverage ◽  
Solid Waste Collection ◽  
Access To Water

Abstract Background This study aims to assess the interactive effects of Brazilian public interventions, environmental health programs (access to water, sanitation and solid waste collection) and a Conditional Cash Transfer Program (PBF), on the mortality reduction due to diarrhea and malnutrition among children under 5 years old. Methods The study design is ecological, with longitudinal analysis in a balanced panel. The period covered is 2006 to 2016, including 3467 municipalities from all regions of the country, which resulted in 38,137 observations. The generalized linear models were adjusted considering the Negative Binomial (NB) distribution for the number of deaths due to malnutrition and diarrhea, with fixed effects. NB models with and without zero-inflation were assessed. Subsequent interaction models were applied to assess the combined effects of the two public policies. Results In relation to the decline of mortality rates due to diarrhea in the municipalities, positive effect modification were observed in the presence of: high coverage of the target population by the PBF and access to water, 0.54 (0.28–1.04) / 0.55 (0.29–1.04); high coverage by the total population by the PBF and access to water, 0.97 (0.95–1.00) and high coverage by the total population by the PBF and access to sanitation, 0.98 (0.97–1.00). Decline on diarrhea mortality was also observed in the joint presence of high coverage of solid waste collection and access to water, categories 1 (> 60% ≤85%): 0.98 (0.96–1.00), 0.98 (0.97–1, 00) and 2 (> 85% ≤ 100%): 0.97 (0.95–0.98), 0.97 (0.95–0.99). Negative effect modification were observed for mortality due to malnutrition in the presence of simultaneous high coverage of the total population by the PBF and access to sanitation categories 1 (≥ 20 < 50%): 1.0061 (0.9991–1.0132) and 2 (≥ 50 < 100%): 1.0073 (1.0002–1.0145) and high coverage of the total population by the PBF and solid waste collection, 1.0004 (1.0002–1.0005), resulting in malnutrition mortality rates increase. Conclusion Implementation of environmental health services and the coverage expansion by the PBF may enhance the prevention of early deaths in children under 5 years old due to diarrhea, a poverty related disease.

Constructing a summary index using the standardized inverse-covariance weighted average of indicators

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 952-964
Author(s):  
Benjamin Schwab ◽  
Sarah Janzen ◽  
Nicholas P. Magnan ◽  
William M. Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Generalized Least Squares ◽  
American Statistical Association ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Transfer Program ◽  
Statistical Association ◽  
Generalized Least Squares Method ◽  
Summary Index ◽  
The Relationship

Researchers often want to examine the relationship between a variable of interest and multiple related outcomes. To avoid problems of inference that arise from testing multiple hypotheses, one can create a summary index of the outcomes. Summary indices facilitate generalizing findings and can be more powerful than individual tests. In this article, we introduce a command, swindex, that implements the generalized least-squares method of index construction proposed by Anderson (2008, Journal of the American Statistical Association 103: 1481–1495). We describe the command and its options and provide an example based on Blattman, Fiala, and Martinez’s (2014, Quarterly Journal of Economics 129: 697–752) evaluation of a cash transfer program in Uganda.

scholarly journals Evaluating working conditions in the informal economy: Evidence from the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 281-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin C Williams ◽  
Ioana Alexandra Horodnic
Keyword(s):  
Logistic Regression ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Working Conditions ◽  
Logistic Regression Analysis ◽  
Informal Economy ◽  
Mixed Effects ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
European Working ◽  
European Working Conditions Survey

Although it is widely held that working conditions in the informal economy are worse than in the formal economy, little evidence has been so far provided. The aim of this article is to fill this lacuna by comparing the working conditions of informal employees with formal employees using the 2015 European Working Conditions Survey. Multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression analysis provides a nuanced and variegated appreciation of which working conditions are worse for informal employees, which are no different, and which are better for informal than formal employees. The article concludes by discussing the theoretical and policy implications.

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