scholarly journals Globalization, Domestic Politics, and Social Spending in Latin America: A Time-Series Cross-Section Analysis, 1973–97

2001 ◽  
Vol 53 (4) ◽  
pp. 553-587 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert R. Kaufman ◽  
Alex Segura-Ubiergo
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Trade Integration ◽  
Education Spending ◽  
Negative Effect

This study examines the effects of globalization, democratization, and partisanship on social spending in fourteen Latin American countries from 1973 to 1997, using a pooled time-series error-correction model. The authors examine three sets of issues. First, following debates in the literature on OECD countries, they want to know whether social spending has been encouraged or constrained by integration into global markets. Within this context, they examine the extent to which such outcomes might be influenced by two additional sets of domestic political and institutional factors discussed in work on developed countries: the electoral pressures of democratic institutions and whether or not popularly based governments are in power.The authors show that trade integration has a consistently negative effect on aggregate social spending and that this is compounded by openness to capital markets. This is the strongest and most robust finding in the study. Neither democratic nor popularly based governments consistently affect overall social spending. The authors then disaggregate spending into social security transfers and expenditures on health and education. They find that popularly based governments tend to protect social security transfers, which tend toflowdisproportionately to their unionized constituencies; but they have a negative impact on health and education spending. Conversely, a shift to democracy leads to increases in health and education spending, which reaches a larger segment of the population. The authors conclude by emphasizing the contrasting political log-ics of the different types of social spending.

Banking crises and social policy: the case of Latin America and the Caribbean

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-233 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rana S. Gautam
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Banking Crises ◽  
Social Welfare Policy ◽  
Social Expenditure ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Distributional Conflicts ◽  
Social Security Benefits ◽  
The Impact

This paper examines the social policy consequences of systemic banking crises or financial crises in 13 Latin American and Caribbean countries between 1990 and 2010. It takes a rationalist approach to political economy to analyse the effect of these crises on aggregate social policy spending and on four distinct social welfare policy programmes – education, health, housing, and social security – benefits of which vary across social groups. The results indicate that banking crises have a statistically strong negative effect on aggregate social expenditure, but the impact is not uniform across the four programmes. While social security spending increases during the course of crises, health and education expenditures decrease in the same period. The results reinforce the view that distributional conflicts overshadow governments’ response and the burden of crises is unevenly shared in a heterogeneous society. These findings are robust to alternative specifications.

Regionalism and Domestic Politics: U.S.-Latin American Trade Policy in the Bush Era

2002 ◽  
Vol 44 (04) ◽  
pp. 127-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard E. Feinberg
Keyword(s):  
Trade Policy ◽  
Free Trade ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Free Trade Area ◽  
Economic Security ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
Trade Integration ◽  
Trade Area ◽  
Competitive Liberalization

Abstract With remarkable success, Latin Americans have sought to impose their free trade policy agenda on a very reluctant and internally fractious United States. They have an ally in President George W. Bush, whose senior appointments notably support hemispheric trade integration even as political pressures sometimes have yielded protectionist outcomes. Bush's trade negotiator, Robert Zoellick, pursues a doctrine of competitive liberalization while accepting some linkage between trade and social and political goals. In negotiating the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), the administration will have to balance many domestic pressures without alienating Latin America. Ultimately, FTAA ratification will signal a new Western Hemisphere economic-security alliance for the twenty-first century.

scholarly journals Development and implementation of health technology assessment in Argentina: Two steps forward and one step back

2009 ◽  
Vol 25 (S1) ◽  
pp. 260-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adolfo Rubinstein ◽  
Andrés Pichon-Riviere ◽  
Federico Augustovski
Keyword(s):  
Resource Allocation ◽  
Health Policy ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Allocation Process ◽  
Formal Tool

Objectives: The objectives of this study are to review the financing and organization of the Argentine healthcare system, the licensing and drug price setting mechanisms, the benefit packages and coverage policies of pharmaceuticals and other medical technologies, as well as the development of HTA in Argentina, and the role of the Institute of Clinical Effectiveness and Health Policy (IECS) as an HTA agency. Finally, the perspectives and future of HTA as a tool to make resource-allocation decisions and priority setting in Argentina is discussed.Methods: The study is a discussion/review based largely on the experiences of the authors, but supported by available literature.Results: Argentina is an upper-middle income country with major healthcare problems related to both equity and efficiency. Its healthcare system consists of a multitier system divided in three large sectors: public, social security, and private, where the federal Ministry of Health has a rather limited role in national health policy stewardship. Many of Argentina's shortcomings are due in part to its pluralistic and fragmented healthcare system. In the past decade, Argentina, like many other Latin American countries, has undergone a profound reform of its healthcare system. Whereas some of the objectives of the reforms were specific to each country, a common issue among all of them was to establish a mechanism that ensured a more efficient allocation of scarce resources, and guaranteed a wider provision of healthcare services on the basis of the local population needs and equity. Although some signals from the national government and congress show that there are plans to formally incorporate HTA to inform reimbursement policies, these signals are still very weak. Paradoxically, even though Argentina was the first country in the region to require formal health economic evidence for the adoption of technologies into the mandatory benefit package of the social security, this “fourth hurdle” is no longer required. Nevertheless, there is an increasing interest and demand for a more explicit and transparent resource-allocation process that include HTA as a formal tool to inform decision making, in most of Argentine healthcare stakeholders.Conclusions: In conclusion, what is needed in Argentina is a clear political will to push forward for a national agency of HTA that, similar to other developed countries, advance the regulation on the adoption of new health technologies to improve not only technical or allocative efficiency, but also health equity. Until this milestone is accomplished, the HTA production and use to inform healthcare coverage policies will continue to mirror the current fragmented healthcare system.

scholarly journals Impact of the Healthcare System, Macro Indicator, General Mandatory Quarantine, and Mask Obligation on COVID-19 Cases and Death in Six Latin American Countries: An Interrupted Time Series Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Poppe
Keyword(s):  
Time Series ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Interrupted Time Series Analysis ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
The Impact

Background: Different coping strategies have been implemented by various governments worldwide to address the emerging health crisis of COVID-19. While most developed countries count on supporting healthcare and social systems, developing countries face additional challenges due to low macro indicators. The implementation of measurements such as quarantine are shown to be successful to flatten the curve of infection and death. In this context, it is important to test whether those measurements have an impact on the distribution of cases of COVID-19 in developing countries that face additional challenges such as lack of social security due to informal employment. A country comparison for Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, Ecuador, Mexico, and Chile has therefore been conducted.Method: The healthcare systems and macro indicator as well as the distribution of death due to COVID-19 per thousand inhabitants are compared descriptively. Using Multiple Interrupted Time Series Analysis with synthetic control units the impact of the General Mandatory Quarantine in Colombia, Peru, and Ecuador as well as the impact of Mask Obligation in public in Colombia and Chile have been tested.Results: No clear impact of the poverty headcount ratio at the national poverty line and urban population on the percentage of death within the confirmed cases has been found. The out-of-pocked spending within health expenditure as a barrier in access to healthcare can be considered as a determinant of death within the confirmed cases of COVID-19. The implementation of a general mandatory quarantine did not show a curve-flattening effect in Ecuador and Peru but did so in Colombia. The implementation of Mask obligation in public spaced showed positive impact on the distribution of confirmed case in both countries tested.Conclusion: The implementation of a general mandatory quarantine does not guarantee the curve-flattening effect. Various macro indicators should therefore always be considered while analyzing the effect of policies.

scholarly journals Comparative Politics of North America

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam Smith
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Comparative Politics ◽  
North American ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
The United States ◽  
Area Studies

Comparative politics is a subfield of political science that compares the domestic politics of nation-states. In the current era of globalization, comparative politics often overlaps with the subfields of international relations or area studies (studies of a particular region of the globe). The comparative politics of North America, therefore, is the comparative study of the domestic politics of the three North American neighbors—the United States, Canada, and Mexico. It also extends to the politics of North America as a region, especially with respect to trade and economic links, immigration, the environment, and security. In addition, because Mexico is a developing country, while the United States and Canada are developed countries, comparative studies of domestic politics usually focus on US–Canada comparison, while the domestic politics of Mexico are often compared to other Latin American countries or considered as an element in Latin American area studies. The comparative politics of North America is a relatively new topic and has received greater interest since the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993.

Recent changes in Latin American welfare states: is there social dumping?

2000 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen J. Kay
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
Financial Institution ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
International Financial Institution ◽  
Transition Costs ◽  
Social Security Privatization

The article evaluates the degree to which the recent wave of pension reform in Latin America can be considered social dumping. While competitive pressures did create incentives for reform, the region's pension systems were already becoming financially unsustainable, consuming greater percentages of GDP throughout the 1980s and 1990s. To the extent that the transition costs of privatization crowd out other – more redistributive – forms of social spending, as occurred in the Chilean case, social dumping may occur. However, it is problematic to speak of a single 'Latin American' trend in social spending in general or in pension reform in particular. The demonstration effect of the Chilean model, International Financial Institution support for privatization, and concerns about economic competitiveness provided incentives for governments to pursue privatization, but policy outcomes were filtered through the prism of domestic politics. Given the dismal financial and distributional picture of the old pay-as-you-go (PAYG) system and its steep transition costs (simply cutting benefits in the old system would be far cheaper), social security privatization is not readily explained as social dumping.

The Consequences of Organized Labor and Mass Protest for Social Spending in Latin America

2020 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-116
Author(s):  
Bárbara A. Zárate-Tenorio
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Research Note ◽  
Organized Labor ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
Education Spending ◽  
Labor Strikes ◽  
Political Studies ◽  
Mass Protest

I am very pleased to participate in this dialogue on the effect of collective protest on social spending in Latin America, which initiated when the editors of LAPS invited me to review the research note titled “Organized Labor Strikes and Social Spending in Latin America: The Synchronizing Effect of Mass Protest.” Dongkyu Kim, Mi-son Kim, and Cesar Villegas engage with my paper, published in Comparative Political Studies (Zarate-Tenorio 2014), which analyzes the effects of organized labor strikes and mass protests on social security and welfare, health and education spending in Latin America, 1970–2007.

New Drugs for Thromboembolic Prevention in Atrial Fibrillation

2010 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Jose L Merino ◽  
Jose López-Sendón ◽  
◽  
Keyword(s):  
Atrial Fibrillation ◽  
Vitamin K ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Vitamin K Antagonists ◽  
Coagulation Factor ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Risk Scores ◽  
Bleeding Events ◽  
Risk Patients

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most frequent sustained arrhythmia and its prevalence is increasing in developed countries. This progressive increase and the negative impact of this arrhythmia on the patient’s prognosis make AF one of the main healthcare problems faced today. This has led to intense research into the main aspects of AF, one of them being thromboembolism prevention. AF patients have a four to five times higher risk of stroke than the general population. Several factors increase thromboembolic risk in patients with AF and the use of risk scores, such as the Congestive Heart Failure, Hypertension, Age Greater than 75, Diabetes, and Prior Stroke or Transient Ischemic Attack (CHADS2), have been used to identify the best candidates for anticoagulation. Antithrombotic drugs are the mainstay of therapy for embolic prevention. The clinical use of these drugs is based on the risk–benefit ratio, where benefit is the reduction of stroke and systemic embolic events and risk is mostly driven by the increase in bleeding events. Generally, antiplatelets are indicated for low-risk patients in light of the fact anticoagulants are the drug of choice for moderate- or high-risk patients. Vitamin K antagonists have been the only option for oral anticoagulation for the last 50 years. However, these drugs have many pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic problems. The problems of anticoagulation with vitamin K antagonists have led to the investigation of new drugs that can be administered orally and have a better dose–response relationship, a shorter half-life and, in particular, higher efficacy and safety without the need for frequent anticoagulation controls. The drugs that have been studied most thoroughly in patients with AF are inhibitors of the activated coagulation factor X and inhibitors of coagulation factor II (thrombin), including ximelagatran and dabigatran. In addition, non-pharmacological therapies have been developed to prevent recurrent embolism in certain patient populations.

European and Ukrainian experience in financial support to farming activities through fiscal instruments

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (9) ◽  
pp. 1040-1063
Author(s):  
E.A. Nepochatenko ◽  
E.T. Prokopchuk ◽  
B.S. Guzar
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Financial Support ◽  
Financial Regulation ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Statistical Research ◽  
Tax Regimes

Subject. The article considers financial regulation through the use of tax mechanisms. Objectives. The aim of the study is to evaluate European and Ukrainian practices of fiscal incentives for farming through fiscal instruments with VAT playing the key role. Methods. In the study we employed economic and statistical research methods, like monographic, comparison, scientific generalization. Results. Based on the analysis of VAT implementation on farmers in developed countries in Europe we substantiated the conclusion about its focus on simplifying the tax procedures and eliminating the negative impact on operations of economic entities. Special tax treatment (including VAT collection) is mainly used to streamline tax relations, taking into account the specifics of farming, rather than to improve the financial support to farms. We revealed that in the Ukrainian practice its main task is financial support to agricultural production. Conclusions and Relevance. The experience of developed European countries on the use of special tax regimes and taxation procedures should serve as a model for Ukraine. Financial incentives for agricultural production development should be directly supported by the State, and special tax treatment and tax administration should be focused on streamlining tax relations in the region, based on the practice of developed European countries such as UK, Germany, Italy and France.

SOCIAL ASPECTS OF NATIONAL SAFETY OF THE STATE

2018 ◽  
pp. 7-12
Author(s):  
O. B. Berezovska-Chmil
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Social Security ◽  
National Security ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
State Regulation ◽  
The State ◽  
Potential Threat ◽  
Role Of The State ◽  
Level Of Economic Development

  In this article theoretical and еmpirical analysis of social security are conducted. Ways of the optimization social security are argumented. The author notes that significant transformation processes are taking place in the country. They affect the state of security. It is noted that with the development of scientific and technological progress the number of threats and dangers does not decrease. At the same time, the essence of the phenomenon of "danger" is revealed. Empirical studies have been carried out on the basis of an analysis of problems related to ensuring the necessary safety of people. It is established that in recent times organized crime, including cybercrime, has spread widely in Ukraine. It has a negative impact on ensuring national security and sustainable development. A number of factors have been singled out. They are a potential threat to national security. Groups of possible dangers are determined. Summarizing the opinions of scientists, the essence of the concept of "social security" is characterized. It is emphasized that its state is influenced by the level of economic development, the effectiveness of social policy of the state and state regulation of social development. The authors have grounded the formation of national and social security, have proved that sustainable development is connected with the observance of social standards; have considered the development and implementation of a balanced social and environmental and economic policy. This policy would involve active use of the latest production technologies, minimizing the amount of harmful emissions to the environment, strengthening the role of the state in solving social and economic problems and sustainable development.

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