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dc.titleTowards Effective Social Insurance in Latin America: The Importance of Countercyclical Fiscal Policy
dc.contributor.authorBraun, Miguel
dc.contributor.authorDi Gresia, Luciano
dc.contributor.orgunitDepartment of Research and Chief Economist
dc.coverageThe Caribbean
dc.coverageCentral America
dc.coverageSouth America
dc.date.available2011-02-04T00:00:00
dc.date.issue2003-07-01T00:00:00
dc.description.abstractLatin America is a volatile, crisis-prone region, with limited and inadequate social insurance. Therefore, the long-term as well as the recent poor suffer significantly during crises. Furthermore, social spending is procyclical in the region, but less so than total spending, indicating that the effectiveness of compensatory social policies designed to protect those vulnerable to crises is constrained by adjustments during recessions. The causes of procyclical fiscal policy lie in the political constraints on saving during expansions, combined with limited creditworthiness during recessions, and enhanced by economic volatility and a low share of automatic stabilizers in the budget. We evaluate policy options to reduce procyclicality of fiscal policy, such as stabilization funds, fiscal rules and reform of budget institutions, and argue in favor of integrated policy proposals based on more country-specific analysis, such as the Fiscal Responsibility Law in Brazil.
dc.identifier.doihttp://dx.doi.org/10.18235/0010813
dc.identifier.urlhttps://publications.iadb.org/publications/english/document/Towards-Effective-Social-Insurance-in-Latin-America-The-Importance-of-Countercyclical-Fiscal-Policy.pdf
dc.language.isoen
dc.mediumAdobe PDF
dc.publisherInter-American Development Bank
dc.subjectSocial Policy and Protection
dc.subject.keywordsWP-487
dc.typeWorking Papers
idb.identifier.pubnumberWorking Papers
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