The impact of tax-financed pensions on poverty reduction in Latin America: Evidence from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica and Uruguay

In many Latin American countries, tax-financed pensions (TFPs) have expanded, mainly resulting from growing informalization of employment and stagnating or declining pension insurance coverage. In the five countries examined in this article, TFPs have generally been effective in reducing poverty and indigence. In Brazil rural social assistance pensions cut the incidence of destitution among poor older people by 95 per cent. In Chile TFPs considerably improved their poverty reduction effectiveness between 1990 and 2000. Tax-financed pensions have therefore been seen as an instrument to supplement contributory pension coverage and boost overall social security coverage. A key challenge is to increase pension insurance coverage through existing statutory pension insurance or special contributory schemes targeted on workers in the informal economy. Otherwise, TFPs could become financially and socially unsustainable in the future. There are also various ways to improve the financing, administration and eligibility criteria of TFPs, particularly because it is necessary to define consistent structure and benefit policies between these and contributory schemes.     

SOVEREIGN DEBT RELIEF AND ITS AFTERMATH

This paper studies sovereign debt relief in a long‐term perspective. We quantify the relief achieved through default and restructuring in two distinct samples: 1920–1939, focusing on the defaults on official (government to government) debt in advanced economies after World War I; and 1978–2010, focusing on emerging market debt crises with private external creditors. Debt relief was substantial in both eras, averaging 21% of GDP in the 1930s and 16% of GDP in recent decades. We then analyze the aftermath of debt relief and conduct a difference‐in‐differences analysis around the synchronous war debt defaults of 1934 and the Baker and Brady initiatives of the 1980s/1990s. The economic landscape of debtor countries improves significantly after debt relief operations, but only if these involve debt write‐offs. Softer forms of debt relief, such as maturity extensions and interest rate reductions, are not generally followed by higher economic growth or improved credit ratings. (JEL: E6, F3, N0, H6)     

Covid and Public Funds: More Opportunities for a Misuse? The Case of the Intermediate Governments of Galicia

Public Organization Review - Corruption and inefficiency of public funds pose a risk in public administrations. This paper analyses the corruption risk at the local level by analysing indicators of...