Produciendo bienestar. Una mirada desde las Comunidades Marginadas en Puerto Rico

Las comunidades marginadas en Puerto Rico presentan cicatrices sociales por la estigmatización, desigualdad y falta de oportunidades experimentadas durante décadas. Está obra recoge expresiones de este sector tradicionalmente marginado por el gobierno, mercado y la misma sociedad puertorriqueña. Dos son los principales propósitos del libro: (1) realizar un análisis histórico del desarrollo e institucionalización del Estado de bienestar emergente en Puerto Rico, y (2) examinar las relaciones del bienestar y la distribución de riesgos sociales entre los principales actores garantes del bienestar en las comunidades marginadas del archipiélago caribeño. Para cumplir el primer propósito se realiza una revisión histórica sobre el desarrollo de las instituciones y programas del bienestar puertorriqueño. El segundo objetivo del libro se materializa mediante la exposición de datos y relatos recopilados mediante entrevistas semiestructuradas y encuestas en siete comunidades marginadas del país (Daguao, Dulces Labios, El Rabanal, Playita Cortada, San Antón, Toro Negro y Tras Talleres). El valor añadido de este libro a los estudios de regímenes de bienestar es la conceptualización de la comunidad como uno de los principales actores garantes del bienestar junto a la familia, Estado y mercado. Asimismo, se demuestra el grado de (des)mercantilización, (des)familiarización y estadocentrismo/residualismo de los programas de bienestar puertorriqueños en las áreas de vivienda, maternidad/paternidad, educación, alimentación, salud, incapacidad, (des)empleo y vejez. Los resultados demuestran la existencia de un Estado de bienestar limitado y estratificado, el cual sigue el tipo de régimen de bienestar residual aunque con un gran peso en la familia tradicional en el área de cuidado y con programas subsidiarios de tipo corporativista para la población trabajadora en el mercado formal.Norwegian Latin American Research NetworkDepto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

Welfare State Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (1970s–2000s): Multidimensional Welfare Index, Its Methodology and Results

There is an ongoing debate between focalization and universalization on welfare policies as the best way to develop the welfare state in Latin America and the Caribbean. However, there is a need to develop a measure that exhibits the multidimensional nature of the welfare state, instead of focusing on the social spending dimension. Segura-Ubiergo (The political economy of the welfare state in Latin America: globalization, democracy and development. Cambridge University Press, New York, 2007) constructed a welfare effort index (WEI) to facilitate understand the relative degrees of welfare state development among Latin American countries. The WEI focuses mainly on social spending and ignores the other dimensions of welfare. Based on a comparative analysis of 17 Latin American countries and following the methodology of Segura-Ubiergo, a new index that aims at enriching the WEI was constructed. The new index is multidimensional in that it has eight indicators relating to three dimensions of welfare: social spending, coverage of welfare programs and outcome of welfare institutions. Principal component analysis was used for reducing the indicators into three indexes that represent three proposed dimensions of welfare. The combination of these three indexes gives the multidimensional welfare index. The results of the index account for more than 75 % of the data variance.Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y DeporteDepto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

Balance Alternativo de Indicadores de Pobreza en los ODM para América Latina y el Caribe: ¿Medir el Éxito como Aceleración del Progreso o Consecución de las Metas?

Diversos investigadores han realizado críticas a los ODM por la arbitrariedad en la formulación y fijación de metas, así como en el uso de indicadores que pueden afectar la perspectiva del éxito exhibido por un país o región, favoreciendo a algunos y perjudicando a otros. El propósito principal de este artículo es realizar un balance alternativo crítico del avance ante la pobreza en 38 países latinoamericanos y caribeños. Utilizando indicadores positivos y negativos se contrastaron los resultados (1) de la consecución de la meta oficial 1.A y 7.C de los ODM y (2) de la aceleración del progreso en la reducción de las tasas de pobreza en 4 periodos temporales entre 1980-2015. Se utilizaron dos indicadores de pobreza para examinar la meta 1.A –reducir en un 50% la proporción de población con ingresos inferiores a 1,25 dólares diarios (PPA)- y la meta 7.C –reducir en un 50% la proporción de población sin acceso a fuentes mejoradas de agua potable e infraestructuras sanitarias. Los resultados confirman algunas de las críticas presentadas sobre los ODM. El uso de indicadores negativos y la conceptualización del éxito como aceleración del progreso en la reducción de pobreza presentan una imagen más favorable para la región.Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y DeporteDepto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

Is there a Common Path that could have Conditioned the Degree of Welfare State Development in Latin America and the Caribbean?

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine from a multidimensional perspective the possible existence of a single path that could have conditioned the degree of welfare state development (WSD) in Latin America. Economic/industrial development, trade-openness, democracy and the strength of leftist parties-labour movement are used as explanatory variables in the qualitative comparative analysis. In contrast to previous findings, this paper shows that there is no evidence of a common path followed by countries with a relatively high/medium WSD. Nevertheless, countries that experienced a low economic/industrial development combined with a low democratic experience were conditioned to have low WSD.Depto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

Welfare state development, individual deprivations and income inequality: a cross-country analysis in Latin America and the Caribbean

Several scholars have confirmed the role that the welfare state (WS) plays in reducing poverty, promoting equality and ensuring the common wellbeing. One of the limitations of the scholarship has been the conceptualization and operationalization of the WS and poverty as one-dimensional variables. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between welfare state development –as a onedimensional and multidimensional variable-, single-dimensions deprivations and income inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean, before and after controlling for demographic and cyclical factors. The WS is operationalized taking into account its multidimensional nature. Three individual deprivations suffered by people on poverty and two income inequality indicators are used as dependent variables. Three pooled time-series cross-section regression analyses with panel-corrected standard errors models were carried out on 18 countries in the region around 2000, 2005 and 2010. This paper shows that the development of social-welfare programs and institutions seems to be an effective way of tackling individual deprivations suffered by people on poverty in the region. On the other hand, the WS development didn’t appear to be effective to reduce income inequality. The outcomes of welfare institutions appear to be the pivotal dimension to reduce income inequality and income deprivations in the region.The purpose of this paper is to re-examine from a multidimensional perspective the possible existence of a single path that could have conditioned the degree of welfare state development (WSD) in Latin America. Economic/industrial development, trade-openness, democracy and the strength of leftist parties-labour movement are used as explanatory variables in the qualitative comparative analysis. In contrast to previous findings, this paper shows that there is no evidence of a common path followed by countries with a relatively high/medium WSD. Nevertheless, countries that experienced a low economic/industrial development combined with a low democratic experience were conditioned to have a low WSD.Depto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

GOING BEYOND AGGREGATED MEASURES IN THE CONDITIONAL CASH TRANSFER PROGRAMS: THE EFFECTIVE COVERAGE OF BENEFITS AND BENEFICIARIES

The purpose of this paper is to present two alternative indicators in order to rethink and reevaluate the coverage of the conditional cash transfer programs (CCTs) in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The term effective coverage, introduced by the World Health Organization, was used as a reference to adjust the aggregate indicators on the ECLAC database taking into account the target population of the programs. (1) Effective coverage of beneficiaries is a metric that shows the potential proportion of population living in monetary poverty that benefits from the CCTs. (2) Effective coverage of benefits shows the potential proportion of the monetary poverty line value invested by the CCTs. Only three CCTs presented an effective coverage of beneficiaries higher than the total population in monetary poverty, and nine over the total population in extreme monetary poverty. Meanwhile, ten CCTs presented an effective coverage of benefits higher than the extreme monetary poverty line value, and seven higher than the monetary poverty line value.Depto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

Esfuerzo de bienestar y Pobreza desde el enfoque monetarista y de capacidades: Análisis trasnacional en América Latina y el Caribe (1990-2010)

Existe una abundante evidencia empírica sobre la relación negativa entre el esfuerzo de bienestar y la pobreza. Sin embargo, los indicadores de pobreza tradicionalmente utilizados han sido representativos del enfoque monetarista, inhibiendo del análisis su realidad multidimensional. Además el análisis trasnacional en América Latina y el Caribe entre las variables ha excluido generalmente factores demográficos y cíclicos. Utilizando tres técnicas de regresión para el periodo 1990-2010 y controlando para la población en edad avanzada, población desempleada y el PIB per cápita, se evaluó la relación entre el gasto social per cápita –como indicador de esfuerzo de bienestar- y la pobreza en hasta 21 países de la región. La proporción de población con ingresos inferiores a la canasta básica de alimentos y servicios (PM1) y la proporción de población con ingresos inferiores al 50% de la mediana de ingresos per cápita (PM2) fueron los dos indicadores de la pobreza desde el enfoque monetarista. Desde el enfoque de capacidades se utilizó la proporción de población con insuficiencia alimentaria (PC1) y la proporción de la población sin acceso a agua potable ni facilidades sanitarias (PC2). Los resultados confirman que efectivamente el gasto social es útil para explicar las cambios en la pobreza (PM1, PC1 y PC2), ya que existe una alta correlación negativa y significativa entre las variables antes y después de controlar para factores demográficos y cíclicos. En dos de las técnicas de regresión, el gasto social per cápita no presentó una relación negativa con la PM2. Los países que presentaron un mayor esfuerzo de bienestar para el periodo 1990-2010 no fueron necesariamente los que ostentan un menor nivel de pobreza. Por último el gasto social per cápita fue mas útil para explicar los cambios en la pobreza desde el enfoque de capacidades.Depto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

The configurational approach in comparative social policy analysis: advances in capturing the impact of globalisation on social policymaking in moderate-N research designs

Although relatively young, the configurational approach is now firmly established as part of the methodological toolkit for comparative political economists. While debates about its advantages and limitations are ongoing, there has been a proliferation of different qualitative comparative analysis (QCA) types for moderate-N research designs. Rather than adding to these debates, this chapter assesses QCA applications addressing the impact of globalisation processes on national social policymaking. We conduct a systematic literature review of empirical studies to illustrate how a small but increasing number of QCA studies try to capture the causal effects of globalisation from a comparative perspective. We find that theoretical innovation within those studies has remained limited; few fully comply with existing ‘best practice’ prescriptions of the configurational approach. We conclude by charting a way forward for QCA in comparative political economy and suggest how researchers could combine QCA techniques with other mainstream research methods in this field.Depto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpu

Dualization and welfare in the 21st century: a literature review and a proposal for a conceptual and explanatory framework

Working Paper 1/2024This working paper analyses the nexus of the labour market and social protection system dualization in the 21st century, highlighting its institutional roots and societal implications. Our analysis, grounded in an extensive literature review, underscores the institutional structures and regulatory mechanisms that have historically stratified social protections and rights according to the form of employment, perpetuating inequality between insiders and outsiders of the social protection system. We aim to scrutinise the multifaceted dimensions of dualization processes. By adopting the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines, our methodological approach ensures a thorough examination of dualization's extent within welfare states. Our findings reveal the complex dynamics favouring insiders (winners) at the expense of outsiders (losers), enlightening the differentiated access to welfare benefits and services. The working paper's significance lies in its contribution to understanding the institutional foundations of labour market dualization and its broader implications for social equity. Our analysis maps the evidence of dualization across various contexts and underscores the pivotal role of policy interventions in addressing the deep-rooted divides between insiders and outsiders. Consequently, this working paper offers valuable insights for policymakers, scholars, and practitioners aiming to foster more inclusive and equitable labour markets and social protection systems.Depto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaFALSEpu

State of the art: have social policy responses to COVID-19 been institutionalised?

2023 Otros acuerdos transformativos UCMCountries adopted a variety of social policy responses to reduce the social risks exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, which in some cases took the form of institutional reforms. The study of the institutionalisation of emergency responses is relevant to understanding if and how a critical juncture, like the one opened by the pandemic, can generate path dependencies or changes that expand or retrench social protection. This state-of-the-art article offers an overview of how social policy responses to the pandemic have translated to institutional reform across the globe under various types of welfare systems. By conducting a systematic literature review of thirty-nine peer-reviewed journal articles in two leading bibliographic databases (Scopus and Web of Science), this article reviews the available evidence on the responses to the pandemic and their institutional consequences. We find four underlying research clusters regarding the degree of institutionalisation of the social policy responses implemented during the pandemic.Depto. de Ciencia Política y de la AdministraciónFac. de Ciencias Políticas y SociologíaTRUEpubAPC financiada por la UC