-State Presence in Brazilian Social Assistance Services: Effects on the Creation of Nonprofit Private Providers

Abstract

A growing body of literature addresses Brazil’s National Policy of Social Assistance, but little is known about the factors that affect the creation of nonprofit, private social assistance providers (PSAPs) in the country. This paper analyzes the historical patterns of PSAP creation in Brazil. We argue that the place of PSAPs within the social protection system changed during the 2000s and that this change stems from a reassessment of the state’s role in this area. We also contend that a switch in incentives and increased state provision slowed down the rate of PSAP creation. We conducted a document analysis to create a panorama of the institutional landscape (1930s-2000s); using a unique dataset, we also estimated the association between state presence and PSAP creation (2000-2017). This mixed-method research strategy supports our claim that the direct provision of social services by the state has contributed to the decline in PSAP creation, as the mixed-method approach reveals both a mechanism for institutional change and evidence of its implications.