This book focuses on civil service reform within the central administration in Latin America. It analyzes updated versions of the country assessments carried out by the Inter-American Development Bank in 2004 in 16 countries and presents a comparative analysis of the ways in which the countries have evolved during the last decade. The methodology is based on the principles of the Ibero-American Charter for Public Service. In addition, it draws lessons from reform processes, identifying strategies for civil service modernization in the region. Finally, the book proposes a possible future agenda to continue the efforts to further professionalize the civil service in Latin America.
Nas últimas três décadas, muitos países da América Latina e Caribe reconheceram a saúde como um direito humano. Desde o início dos anos 2000, 46 milhões de pessoas nos países estudados recebem cobertura de programas de saúde com direitos explícitos a atendimento. Essas reformas foram acompanhadas por um aumento do gasto público com saúde, financiado em grande medida pelas receitas gerais que priorizam ou visam explicitamente a população que não tem capacidade de pagamento. O compromisso político em geral se traduziu em orçamentos maiores e na aprovação de legislação que insula recursos para a saúde. Muitos países priorizaram o atendimento de saúde primária com boa relação de custo-benefício e adotaram métodos de pagamento que incentivam a eficiência e a prestação de contas por resultados, proporcionando à s autoridades do setor de saúde mais poder para induzir os prestadores a cumprirem as prioridades de saúde pública. Apesar do progresso, ainda persistem disparidades no financiamento e na prestação de serviços de qualidade entre os subsistemas de saúde. Cumprir o compromisso da cobertura universal de saúde exigirá esforços concertados para melhorar a geração de receitas de formal fiscalmente sustentável e aumentar a produtividade em termos de despesas. Em Rumo a uma Cobertura Universal de Saúde e Equidade na América Latina e Caribe: Evidência de Países Selecionados, os autores mostram que a evidência da análise de 54 pesquisas domiciliares corrobora que os investimentos para ampliar a cobertura de saúde estão gerando resultados. Embora os pobres ainda apresentem resultados de saúde piores que os riscos, as disparidades diminuíram consideravelmente — em particular nos estágios iniciais da vida. Os países alcançaram altos níveis de cobertura e equidade na utilização de serviços de saúde materna e infantil. O quadro tem mais nuanças e não é tão positivo quando se trata da situação de saúde dos adultos e da prevalência de doenças e condições crônicas de saúde. A cobertura para doenças não transmissíveis não é alta e continua a pender mais para os mais abastados. A prevalência de doenças não transmissíveis não ocorreu como esperado, tendo em vista a queda na mortalidade; o melhor acesso a serviços de diagnósticos entre as pessoas mais riscas pode estar mascarando mudanças na prevalência efetiva. Gastos catastróficos com saúde caíram na maior parte dos países. No entanto, o quadro com respeito à equidade é mais misto e indica limitações na medição. Embora a taxa de empobrecimento em razão de gastos com saúde seja baixa ou em declínio, 2 a 4 milhões de pessoas nos países estudados ainda ficam abaixo da linha da pobreza em razões de gastos com saúde. Esforços de monitoramento sistemático da qualidade do atendimento de saúde na região são ainda incipientes. No entanto, a análise da literatura revela deficiências importantes na qualidade da saúde, bem como diferenças substanciais entre os subsistemas. Melhorar a qualidade do atendimento e garantir a sustentabilidade dos investimentos em saúde continuam a ser itens pendentes da agenda.
In the last ten to fifteen years, profound structural reforms have moved Latin America and the Caribbean from closed, state-dominated economies to ones that are more market-oriented and open. Policymakers expected that these changes would speed up growth. This book is part of a multi-year project to determine whether these expectation have been fulfilled. Focusing on technological change, the impact of the reforms on the process of innovation is examined. It notes that the development process is proving to be highly heterogenous across industries, regions and firms and can be described as strongly inequitable. This differentiation that has emerged has implications for job creation, trade balance, and the role of small and medium sized firms. This ultimately suggests, amongst other things, the need for policies to better spread the use of new technologies.
This book evaluates the impact of 20 years of urban policies in six Latin American countries: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico. It argues that evaluating the fulfillment of past commitments is essential for framing and meeting the new commitments that were taken in Habitat III over the next 20 years. Taken as a whole, the book provides a critical assessment of the economic, social and environmental consequences of urban interventions during Habitat II. The country-level chapters have been written by recognized experts in urban issues, with first-hand knowledge of the Habitat process, and deep familiarity with the problems, statistics, actors and political contexts of their nations. The latter part of the volume considers wider topics such as the Habitat Commitment Index, the New Urban Agenda and the regional and global-scale lessons that can be extracted from this group of countries. Urban Policy in Latin America will be of interest to advanced students, researchers and policymakers across development economics, urban studies and Latin American studies.
A comprehensive and accessible overview of the economic history of Latin America over the two centuries since Independence. It considers its principal problems and the main policy trends and covers external trade, economic growth, and inequality.
This volume is the result of the 2012 International Economic Association's series of roundtables on the theme of Industrial Policy. The first, 'New Thinking on Industrial Policy,' was hosted by the World Bank in Washington, D.C, and the second, 'New Thinking on Industrial Policy: Implications for Africa,' was held in Pretoria, South Africa.
Latin America has been central to the main debates on development economics, ranging from the relationships between income inequality and economic growth, and the importance of geography versus institutions in development, to debates on the effects of trade, trade openness and protection on growth and income distribution. Despite increasing interest in the region there are few English language books on Latin American economics. This Handbook, organized into five parts, aims to fill this significant gap. Part I looks at long-term issues, including the institutional roots of Latin America's underdevelopment, the political economy of policy making, the rise, decline and re-emergence of alternative paradigms, and the environmental sustainability of the development pattern. Part II considers macroeconomic topics, including the management of capital account booms and busts, the evolution and performance of exchange rate regimes, the advances and challenges of monetary policies and financial development, and the major fiscal policy issues confronting the region, including a comparison of Latin American fiscal accounts with those of the OECD. Part III analyzes the region's economies in global context, particularly the role of Latin America in the world trade system and the effects of dependence on natural resources (characteristic of many countries of the region) on growth and human development. It reviews the trends of foreign direct investment, the opportunities and challenges raised by the emergence of China as buyer of the region's commodities and competitor in the world market, and the transformation of the Latin America from a region of immigration to one of massive emigration. Part IV deals with matters of productive development. At the aggregate level it analyzes issues of technological catching up and divergence as well as different perspectives on the poor productivity and growth performance of the region during recent decades. At the sectoral level, it looks at agricultural policies and performance, the problems and prospects of the energy sector, and the effects on growth of lagging infrastructure development. Part V looks at the social dimensions of development; it analyzes the evolution of income inequality, poverty, and economic insecurity in the region, the evolution of labor markets and the performance of the educational sector, as well as the evolution of social assistance programs and social security reforms in the region. The contributors are leading researchers that belong to different schools of economic thought and most come from countries throughout Latin America, representing a range of views and recognising the diversity of the region. This Handbook is a significant contribution to the field, and will be of interest to academics, graduate students and policy makers interested in economics, political economy, and public policy in Latin America and other developing economies.
Producing more effective governance is the greatest challenge that faces most Latin American democracies today—a challenge that involves not only strengthening democratic institutions but also increasing governmental effectiveness. Focusing on the post-1990 period, this volume addresses why some policies and some countries have been more successful than others in meeting this dual challenge. Two features of the volume stand out. First, whereas some analysts tend to generalize for Latin America as a whole, this group of authors underscores the striking differences of achievement among countries in the region and illustrates the importance of understanding these differences. The second feature is the range of expertise within the volume. In addition to the volume editors, the contributors are Alan Angell, Daniel Brinks, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, José de Gregorio, Alejandro Foxley, Evelyne Huber, José Miguel Insulza, Juliana Martínez Franzoni, Patricio Navia, Francisco Rodriguez, Mitchell Seligson, John Stephens, Jorge Vargas Cullell, and Ignacio Walker.
Challenging the Northern-centric approach that has dominated the literature on punishment-and-society, this collection draws on innovative theoretical perspectives to make sense of punishment, penal trends, institutions and practices in peripheral settings, taking Latin American countries as its case studies.
