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Commitment to Equity Presentation
at Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association Meeting
November 10 2011
Recent findings from the Commitment to Equity (CEQ) initiative were presented to the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association. Directed by Nora Lustig, the Commitment to Equity is a joint initiative of the Inter-American Dialogue and the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research (CIPR), at Tulane University.
Fiscal Policy, Inequality and Poverty in Latin America
Commitment to Equity Workshop
November 3 & 4 2011
The Inter-American Dialogue and the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research (CIPR) at Tulane University brought together eleven researchers leading the field studies for the CEQ in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay. The researchers met in a workshop format to report on their progress and the obstacles they face, hear the comments and suggestions of other participants, and plan for the next stage of work on the CEQ. Click here for the agenda, and here for more photos.
Commitment to Equity Handbook
by Nora Lustig
The Commitment to Equity project's main purpose is to direct attention to how governments’ fiscal policies promote or hinder social equity in Latin America, and to identify practical policy improvements. An application is currently under way in Argentina, Mexico and Peru. The Commitment to Equity is a joint initiative of the Inter-American Dialogue and the Center for Inter-American Policy and Research (CIPR), at Tulane University. It is directed by Nora Lustig, Samuel Z. Stone Professor of Latin American Economics, Tulane University; and Non-resident Fellow, Center for Global Development and Inter-American Dialogue. Click here for the Handbook by Nora Lustig.
Social Policy Brief: Fiscal Policy and the Poor in Latin America
Síntesis de Política Social: La política fiscal y los pobres en América Latina
by Jeffrey Puryear and Mariellen Malloy Jewers June 2010
In the Inter-American Dialogue’s third Social Policy Brief, Fiscal Policy and the Poor in Latin America, Jeffrey Puryear and Mariellen Malloy Jewers summarizes recent research on the impact of fiscal policy on poverty and inequality in Latin America.
The brief compares Europe, where fiscal policy significantly reduces inequality, to Latin America, where fiscal policy has almost no impact on inequality. It concludes that the combination of inadequate revenues, low-quality services and poorly targeted spending helps explain the limited role that fiscal policy has played. It is the third in a series of policy briefs that will target key issues on the region’s social agenda.
If you would like to read the brief in Spanish, click here.
CURRENT EVENTS
The Social Policy program hosts events that link the current issues facing the region with Latin America’s long-term record in neglecting their social agenda. We feel that these events are important in keeping the focus of the debate on developing a robust strategy to fight poverty and inequality that can be followed in both good times and bad.
On December 19, the Dialogue invited World Bank Poverty and Gender Sector Manager, Louise Cord, to discuss the impact of the global crisis on poverty and inequality in Latin America. The discussion addressed the World Bank's new report,"On the Edge of Uncertainty: Poverty Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean during the Great Recession and Beyond." For more information here.
On October 20, the Inter-American Dialogue hosted, "Measuring Discrimination: Race and Data in Brazil", The Dialogue hosted Brazilian scholar Marcelo Paixão to discuss Brazil’s new census data on race and class and what it reveals about the country’s African descendant population. For more information here.
On May 25, the Inter-American Dialogue hosted, "Peru’s Election and Beyond: What’s Next?", a discussion of the political, economic, and social challenges facing Peru. More information on is available by clicking here.
The Dialogue, the Gender and Diversity Unit at the Inter-American Development Bank and Phelps Stokes held a roundtable, "Public Policies for Afro-Descendant Communities" in Colombia on May 20, 2011. Participants discussed public policies' impact on social and economic progress among Afro-Colombians. More materials are available here.
More Current Events
IAD Members' Recent Social Policy Publications
Declining Inequality in Latin America: A Decade of Progress? by Editors Luis López-Calva & Nora Lustig, brings together leading scholars and policymakers to examine the decline of inequality in the region. Since the late 1990s, income concentration has fallen throughout Latin America. The book’s contributors take an in-depth look at four countries—Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru—to determine the primary impetus to this trend. The book reveals two leading factors that may account for the reduced inequality: the narrowing of the earnings gap between skilled and low-skilled workers and the increase of government transfers to the poor. The book is published by Brookings Institution Press & UNDP (2010). A summary of the book can be found by clicking here. To see the launch of the book, click here.
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IN THE NEWS
Visit the Social Policy blog.
World Development Report 2012: Gender Equality and Development by the World Bank argues that gender equity is not only a critical social goal but also an important component of economic growth. It examines the economics of gender inequality, focusing on policies to reduce mortality and education gaps, increase civic engagement and economic opportunities, and limit the reproduction of inequities across generations. Click here for more information.
“Impacto del programa Juntos sobre nutrición temprana” de Miguel Jaramillo y Alan Sánchez, publicado por el Grupo de Análisis para el Desarrollo (GRADE), determina, entre otras conclusiones, que "... Juntos habría favorecido a aquellos niños ubicados en los percentiles inferiores de la distribución de estado nutricional, ayudándolos a superar la desnutrición crónica extrema; sin embargo, no ha tenido efectos sobre la desnutrición crónica global." Haga un click aquí para el informe (in Spanish).
“The End of Informality in Mexico? Fiscal Reform for Universal Social Insurance” a new paper by Arturo Antón and Fausto Hernández and Santiago Levy argues that Mexico’s current social insurance system fails to cover many workers, promotes evasion, undermines fiscal sustainability and lowers real wages and productivity. They propose a universal social insurance system financed via earmarked consumption taxes to universalize coverage, make financing fiscally sustainable, and reduce tax evasion and informality. Click here for paper.
A new World Bank brief "On the Edge of Uncertainty: Poverty Reduction in Latin America and the Caribbean During the Great Recession and Beyond" brings good news: much of Latin America managed to reduce poverty levels despite the 2008-09 recession, and poverty dropped substantially in 2010 and 2011. Click here for brief.
Two papers written three decades apart, by Vito Tanzi, former director of the IMF Fiscal Affairs Department, and former Italian Undersecretary for Economy and Finance, discuss the role of fiscal policy in promoting equity. The first, written in 1974, concluded that social spending in Latin America was not effectively improving income distribution. Tanzi’s second paper " Equity, Transparency, Cooperation and the Taxation of High Net Worth Individuals" goes beyond Latin America and argues that high inequality and low social mobiilty weakens the argument against raising taxes on high net worth individuals.
The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean's (ECLAC) "Social Panorama 2011" and OECD's "Divided We Stand: Why Inequality Keeps Rising" offer remarkably different findings on income inequality in different parts of the world. ECLAC's report finds that income inequality in Latin America has dropped steadily since 1990. By contrast, the OECD’s report finds that income inequality is on the rise in much of the developed world. Click here for the ECLAC briefing paper, and here for the executive summary of OECD report.
A recent article in El Pais "La desigualdad tóxica en Chile," by Moisés Naím argues that the Chilean protests, and the growing discontent that fuels them, are a consequence of Chile’s success in bringing many of its poor into the middle class, and its failure to provide the services and opportunities that the new middle class expects.” Click here for the article (in Spanish).
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Latin America Working Group
Education & Social Policy
Education Policy/PREAL
