Equidad en las reformas de la seguridad social en América Latina : una evaluación crítica

A lo largo del último cuarto de siglo se acometieron en América Latina reformas en los sistemas de pensiones que introdujeron esquemas de capitalización privados de carácter obligatorio. En este trabajo se articulan algunas críticas contra la teoría y la práctica de los nuevos sistemas. Desde el punto de vista de la equidad intergeneracional se sostiene que los nuevos sistemas no resuelven parte de los problemas atribuidos a los sistemas públicos e introducen nuevas distorsiones en las tasas de retorno que recibe cada generación. Desde una óptica de equidad intrageneracional, se justifica que las reformas son susceptibles de deteriorar aún más la ya escasa capacidad redistributiva de los sistemas. Por último, se presentan recomendaciones de política económica para abordar estos problemas. _______________________________________Along the last quarter of the century, pension reforms which introduced private and mandatory capitalization schemes were implemented in Latin America. In this paper, the author states some criticisms against the theory and the practise of the new systems. From the point of view of intergenerational equity, it is argued that the new systems not only do not solve some of the problems attributed to public systems but also introduce new distortions in the rates of return which each generation receives. From the optic of intragenerational equity, the paper justifies that reforms are susceptible to worsen the poor redistributive capacity of the present systems. Finally, the author offers several policy implications for dealing with these problems

Immigration and Social Benefits in a Mediterranean Welfare State: The Case of Spain

The aim of this paper is to explore the impact of immigration on the Spanish Welfare State nowadays. Using two different household surveys, both the reception of state cash transfers and the use of public health care insurance by nationals and immigrants are analysed. Controlling by observable socio-demographic characteristics, we find that immigrants receive fewer cash transfers than locals and do not exhibit a statistically significant higher use of health care services than nationals. The nature of the Spanish Welfare State compared to its European correlates and the age composition of the immigrant population, concentrated in active age, can help to explain these findings.Immigration; Welfare State; Spain; cash transfers; health care

The impact of the minimum wage on Spanish youth: Evidence from a natural experiment

This work assesses the impact of the minimum wage on youth employment, unemployment and education enrolment in Spain. Using a difference-in-differences approach, we take advantage of the fact that the minimum wage for people aged 16 and 17 years old, which was approximately two thirds the level of the standard minimum wage, was raised to reach full convergence with the latter in a period of three years (from 1995 to 1998). The empirical analysis suggests that this policy intervention depressed the employment levels of the affected group, raised unemployment among them and decreased the probability of remaining in formal education.minimum wage, Spain, difference-in-differences, employment

Health care utilization and immigration in Spain

The aim of this work is to analyze the use of health care services by immigrants in Spain. Using a nationally representative health survey from 2006-2007 that allows overcoming problems present in previous studies and negative binomial and hurdle models, it is found that there is no statistically significant difference in the patterns of visits to physicians and hospital stays between migrants and natives in Spain. However, immigrants have a lower access to specialists and visit emergency rooms with higher frequency than nationals.health care; immigration; Spain; access; equity

Análisis económico de la reforma de la seguridad social en Nicaragua: Una propuesta de pensión no contributiva en Nicaragua

En 1999 el gobierno nicaragüense decidió reformar su sistema de pensiones adoptando un esquema provisional de capitalización individual. Por diversos motivos esta reforma no ha entrado en vigor y su puesta en marcha está aplazada sine die. Este trabajo argumenta que, dada la estructura del mercado laboral del país, un cambio de esas características no resuelve los problemas existentes. Asimismo, se presenta una propuesta de reforma basada en la extensión de la cobertura de las prestaciones a través de beneficios no contributivos. Se simula el coste fiscal de una prestación focalizada y universal en varios escenarios de crecimiento económico.Nicaragua ; reforma ; pensiones no contributivas

From guests to hosts: a first whole picture of immigrant-native wage differentials in Spain

This article analyses the immigrant-native wage differentials in Spain, which only recently has become a host country. The paper exploits the Earnings Structure Survey 2006, which is the first nationally representative sample of both foreigner and Spaniard employees. Using the Machado-Mata econometric procedure, wage differentials between locals and foreigners are decomposed into the gap related to characteristics and that due to different returns to endowments (i.e., discrimination). We found that, in absolute terms, the latter component grows across wage distribution, reflecting the existence of a kind of glass ceiling consistent with the evidence of over-education found by previous research.immigration; wage differentials; Spain; quantile regression

How are you doing in your grandpa’s country? Labour market performance of Latin American immigrants in Spain.

This paper analyses wage differentials between local and foreign workers from Latin America and the Caribbean in Spain, which was traditionally a country of emigrants, being precisely Hispanic America the main host region of Spanish migrants during the 19th and 20th centuries. In addition, we also compute earnings. The paper exploits the Earnings Structure Survey 2006, which is the first nationally representative sample of both foreign and Spanish employees. Using the Machado-Mata econometric procedure, wage differentials between locals and foreigners are decomposed into the gap related to characteristics and the one due to different returns on endowments (i.e., discrimination). First, we find that, in absolute terms, the latter component grows across wage distribution, reflecting the existence of a kind of glass ceiling. Second, there seem not to be significant wage gap between Latin American and the last of foreign employees, probably because non-native workers are employed in low-skill jobs.Immigration; Wage differentials; Latin America; Spain; Quantile regression.

Excluded or included? Socio-economic deprivation among ethnic minorities in Chile (1996-2006)

Es el número 01/2010 de la Colección Documentos de Trabajo del Instituto de Iberoamérica.[ES]El objetivo de este trabajo es analizar en detalle la posición socio-económica de los indígenas en Chile, llenando, de esta forma, el relativo vacío existente en la literatura sobre la población aborigen en América Latina, que se ha centrado más en otros países con mayor porcentaje de población indígena. En primer lugar, se observa que tanto la pobreza extrema como la moderada son mucho más importantes entre la población indígena que en el resto de la población. En segundo término, la aplicación de medidas de pobreza no monetaria revelan unos resultados similares. No obstante, la polarización económica existente entre grupos étnicos es relativamente baja. Tercero, se han producido mejoras muy relevantes en las condiciones de vida de los indígenas durante el periodo de análisis, en la mayor parte de los casos mayores que las observadas entre la población no indígena. Por tanto, no puede sostenerse, a partir de nuestro análisis, que los indígenas chilenos hayan permanecido al margen de la prosperidad económica experimentada por el país en los últimos años.[EN]The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive analysis of the socio-economic position of indigenous groups in Chile, filling an existing gap in the literature on indigenous population in Latin America, more focused on countries with a higher presence of aborigine population. First, it is found that both moderate and severe poverty are more acute among indigenous than among non-indigenous citizens. Second, these results also apply when using measures of nonmonetary deprivation, like unsatisfied basic needs indicators. Nevertheless, income polarization by ethnicity is not high. Third, there have been large improvements in the living conditions of indigenous people, most of them even more substantial than among the rest of population. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that Chilean indigenous group have been marginalized from the remarkable economic prosperity experienced by the country during the last years

Evolution of adolescent fertility after decriminalization of abortion in Montevideo, Uruguay

AbstractObjectiveTo analyze the effect on adolescent fertility in Montevideo of the Uruguayan law on the voluntary termination of pregnancy that was passed in 2012.MethodsThe change in the number of births to teenage mothers between 2010 and 2014 was analyzed, along with their characteristics before and after decriminalization of abortion.ResultsDescriptive analysis of abortion before and after decriminalization showed that there was no reduction, during the period analyzed, in adolescent fertility, nor any changes in the distribution of births.ConclusionThe normative change brought about by the law on the voluntary termination of pregnancy was not associated with any substantial change in the reproductive behavior of adolescents in Montevideo. We recommend that this analysis is taken further with impact evaluation methodologies

LA REFORMA DE LA SEGURIDAD SOCIAL EN NICARAGUA: UNA PROPUESTA DE PENSIÓN NO CONTRIBUTIVA

En 1999 el gobierno nicaragüense decidió reformar su sistema de pensiones adoptando un esquema previsional de capitalización individual. Por diversos motivos esta reforma no ha entrado en vigor y su puesta en marcha está aplazada sine die. Este trabajo argumenta que, dada la estructura del mercado laboral del país, un cambio de esas características no resuelve los problemas existentes. Asimismo, se presenta una propuesta de reforma basada en la extensión de la cobertura de las prestaciones a través de beneficios no contributivos. Se simula el coste fiscal de una prestación focalizada y universal a corto y a medio plazo en varios escenarios de crecimiento económico