Armando Barrientos Knihy

Focusing on social protection in Latin America, the book delves into its origins, institutions, and outcomes through a structured analysis. It presents a causal inference approach to key institutions like occupational insurance and social assistance. The middle chapters examine the effects of social protection on employment and worker incorporation, while the final sections evaluate outcomes and categorize countries based on their evolution. This comprehensive study aims to enhance the understanding of social protection theory in late industrializing contexts.

Focusing on the global expansion of social assistance transfers, this book offers an in-depth analysis of their impact in developing countries. It examines the factors driving this growth, the effectiveness of various programs, and the implications for poverty alleviation and social equity. Through extensive research, it highlights the challenges and opportunities faced by these initiatives, making it a crucial resource for policymakers and scholars interested in social welfare and economic development.

First published in 1998, this volume initially focused on Chilean pension reform, on which the author has published elsewhere, before moving onto Latin America more widely, with coverage extending from 1990 to the reform in Costa Rica and the Mexican pension reform in 1997. It emerged in the wake of reforms including in Peru (1993), Argentina and Colombia (1994) and Uruguay (1996). Particular focus is given to the new individual capitalization pension plans, along with arguments on the ignoring of pension schemes and its consequences, the connection of pension schemes to the labour market and the impact of pension schemes on the least advantaged. The Chilean model in particular has received praise from the IMF and the World Bank and these Latin American pension reforms will be of interest as a paradigm for other countries.