Conditional transferences and affirmative action policies in Latin America: The difference inclusion policies can make

Authors

  • Bernd Reiter Universidad del Sur de La Florida, Estados Unidos https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2764-4036
  • Paula Lezama Universidad del Sur de La Florida, Estados Unidos

Keywords:

Social inclusion policies, Conditional Cash Transfers, Affirmative Action Policies, Discrimination

Abstract

This article argues that social inclusion policies are economically efficient because social exclusion is too costly in terms of economic growth and social cohesion. To make this point, we analyze different social inclusion policies, particularly those practiced in Brazil and in Colombia. These are crucial because they highlight the racial dimension of exclusion and the corresponding economic contribution of Affirmative Action policies (AAs) to sustained economic growth and development. Central to social policies aiming at inclusion are educational policies because they render the highest economic medium and long-term return. To demonstrate this effect, we analyze Conditional Cash Transfers (CCTs), a Brazilian social policy that has become a landmark in social policy across national borders. The article also reviews some of the positive impacts AAs have had on inequality reduction. The experiences of CCT and AA policies are blueprints for social policy design and innovation. Access to higher education is the sine-qua-non precondition for formal labor market insertion, guarantying income generation of those families in need. In this context, the need for an efficient assignment of scarce public resources and the imperative of inequality reduction call for exploring possible multidimensional objectives of CCTs, including the possibility of combining them with AAs.

Author Biographies

Bernd Reiter, Universidad del Sur de La Florida, Estados Unidos

Profesor de Política Comparada en la Universidad del Sur de la Florida – USF (Estados Unidos). Autor de los siguientes títulos (originales en Ingles), La dialéctica de la ciudadanía y Negociando la democracia en Brasil, coautor de El reto democrático, y coeditor de Afrodescendientes, identidad, y la lucha por el desarrollo en las Américas, y de Nueva Política Racial del Brasil.

Paula Lezama, Universidad del Sur de La Florida, Estados Unidos

Asistente del Director y Consejera Académica en el Instituto para Estudios de Latinoamérica y el Caribe de la Universidad del Sur de la Florida, USF (Estados Unidos). Economista de la Universidad del Valle (Colombia). Magíster en Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe de USF.

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Published

2013-11-29

How to Cite

Reiter, B., & Lezama, P. (2013). Conditional transferences and affirmative action policies in Latin America: The difference inclusion policies can make. Investigación &Amp; Desarrollo, 21(2), 453–478. Retrieved from https://rcientificas.uninorte.edu.co/index.php/investigacion/article/view/5522

Issue

Vol. 21 No. 2: Jul - Dic (2013)

Section

Reflexion Articles

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