2019/10/04 by David Altman, DAVID ALTMAN, ROSSANA CASTIGLIONI +1 · 62 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Civil society #Competition (biology) #Development economics #Economic growth #Economics #Government (linguistics) #Ideology #Income, Poverty, and Inequality #Latin Americans #Law #Market economy #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Prosperity #Social Policy and Reform Studies #Social policy #Taxation and Compliance Studies
paper · doi:10.1017/s0047279419000734
published in Journal of Social Policy 49(4), 763-784 (Cambridge University Press)
openalex publication_date 2019/10/04 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Abstract The fact that equitable social policy expanded drastically in Latin America during the left turn and during a time of prosperity does not necessarily mean that the ideological color of governing parties and economic growth are the engines behind changes in social policy, as is usually claimed by part of the literature. Using panel data from Latin American countries for 1990–2013, this paper offers an alternative explanation, derived from previous qualitative research, that the level of political competition, the strength of civil society, and wealth are the key factors behind the expansion of equitable social policy. Once these explanations are included in our models, the ideological leaning of governments and economic growth lose statistical significance. Thus, this paper challenges dominant approaches that consider social policy change in Latin America a consequence of the ideological leaning of the government and economic growth.