Argentine Policy Research Articles

Educational Reform Policies in Argentina in the 1970s: The Beginning of a Differentiation Process among National Universities?

The purpose of this article is to analyze the mid-term consequences of the institutional expansion that took place in the nineteen seventies in Argentina, in light of the results yielded by studies carried out in the region by international organizations. This process aimed to reform and restructure the existing state universities into an American research model. We argue that this process did not accomplish its initial objectives, but led instead to an exacerbation of existing structural problems and gave rise to a differentiation process among public universities in the country. In order to do that, we will use first and second-hand sources.

(De)politicising Argentinian cultural policy? an analysis of Macri’s cultural policy (2015–19)

ABSTRACT How can the “political dimension” of cultural policies in Argentina during Macri’s term be analysed? Politicisation is understood as a “mechanism of (re)qualification of activity and/or an attempt to exceed the limits of the sectorisation of activities”. Whether social or cultural, activities are qualified as political, and thus disqualified by some members of Macri’s government. To what extent has the “requalification” of the socio-cultural programme Puntos de Cultura’s objectives, and activities by the Ministry of Culture’s executives, affected the programme’s functioning during this term? Is the cultural policy carried out by Cambiemos free of politicisation? To answer the above, the article begins with the general aims of Argentinian cultural policy since the mid-2000s, and the origins, functioning and team of Puntos de Cultura, a programme deemed highly – and problematically – politicised by members of the government.

A Comparative Analysis of the Covid-19 Pandemic Policies in Argentina and Brazil

2019 yılı aralık ayında başlayan Covid-19 salgını, toplum sağlığının korunması için günlük hayatın ve toplumsal düzenin hemen hemen her alanını etkileyen ve devlet kapasitesini ön plana çıkaran salgın politikaları üretmeyi gerektirmiştir. Buna bağlı olarak küresel anlamda devletlerin pandemi süresince uyguladığı politikalar ve özellikle son dönemde yükselişte olan popülist rejimlerin pandemi politikaları önemli bir tartışma unsuru olmuştur. Söz konusu tartışmalarda popülist rejimler birbirine benzer biçimlerde tasvir edilmiş ve ağırlıklı olarak sağ popülizm örneklerine odaklanılmıştır. Bu yaklaşımlar, pandemi politikalarındaki farklılaşmaların göz ardı edilmesine neden olmuştur. Buradan hareketle çalışma, Latin Amerika’da popülist rejimlere örnek teşkil eden Arjantin ve Brezilya’nın pandemi politikalarını sınıfsal dinamikler üzerinden inceleyecektir. Çalışmanın metodu bu ülkelerdeki pandemi dönemi politikalarının içeriğinin Covid-19 salgını konusundaki raporlar üzerinden incelenmesi ve politikaları etkileyen sınıfsal dinamiklerin ikincil kaynaklar üzerinden analiz edilmesinden oluşmaktadır. Sırasıyla sol ve sağ popülizm örnekleri olarak da görülebilecek Arjantin ve Brezilya’da, pandemi politikaları açısından belirgin farklılıklar görülmektedir. Bu farklılaşmayı yanıştır biçimde, analizler Latin Amerika’da popülist rejimlerin her dönemde farklı toplumsal kesimlere dayandığını ve politikaların bu dinamikler üzerinden şekillendiğini göstermektedir. Arjantin’de rejimin Peronist dönemin özelliklerini yansıtır biçimde işçi sınıfının ve yerli burjuvazinin, Brezilya’da ise finans sektörü ve üst gelir gruplarının desteğine dayanması, bu iki popülist yönetimin doğasını ve politikalarını ayrıştıran temel bir faktör olarak karşımıza çıkmaktadır. Çalışmadaki bu iki ülke örneği, popülizmin farklılaşan biçimlerini yansıtmakta ve pandemi politikalarını bu dinamikler üzerinden okumaya fırsat sunmaktadır.

FORMAÇÃO DE TRABALHADORES, SISTEMA EDUCACIONAL E POLÍTICAS PÚBLICAS. A EJA NA ARGENTINA NOS PRIMEIROS ANOS DE SÉCULO XXI

The link between Youth and Adult Education and work requires a comprehensive approach in political and pedagogical terms. For 20 years, social policies in Argentina have been repeating a scheme based on the educational consideration of the Conditional Income Transfer Programs that have not managed to modify the occupational possibilities of the workers and in turn give them a place of dependency or subordination to the education regarding work. The concern from the educational field does not lie only in how educational devices are included in social programs, but in what is the approach that gives meaning to that inclusion. Keywords: education – work – youth – adults - politics

Comparative Non-government-based Cryptocurrencies Policy between Thailand and Argentina

The objective in this study were to study the state of the art of Non-government-based cryptocurrency public policy in Thailand, to study the state of the art of Non-government-based cryptocurrency public policy in Argentina, to compare non-government-based cryptocurrency public policy between Thailand and Argentina, and to discuss implications for both Thailand and Argentina. Documentary research was employed in this study. The findings showed that Thailand and Argentina used a set of policy instruments and blockchain as a financial innovation in order to promote their political equilibriums. The comparison of non-government-based cryptocurrency public policy between Thailand and Argentina was conducted in four issues – scope, policy instrument, distribution, and restraints and innovation. In addition, both countries used both active and passive measures in order to maintain the stability of their political systems.

Grid parity analysis of distributed PV generation considering tariff policies in Argentina

This work analyzes the grid parity of distributed photovoltaic generation (DG-PV) in the province of San Juan-Argentina, proving that currently, the levelized cost of DG-PV is on average 20% higher than the tariff price for residential customers. In order to achieve the grid parity, the provincial government should implement incentive mechanisms such as the Net Billing proposed in the National Law 27.424 (2017). The impact of the Net Billing scheme proposed in such law, from the point of view of a typical residential user, and also compared with the impact of the Net Metering and Feed-in Tariff mechanisms are presented in this work. Results show that the Net Metering scheme could be the most profitable or economically beneficial for PV-owners, but it could have some negative impact on the incomes of utilities. Besides, investment decisions in renewable distributed generation are significantly affected by technological costs, national financial conditions, and tariffs. This analysis also suggests that taxes included in the tariff structure are an important aspect to take into account for implementing incentive mechanisms. Finally, some energy policies are recommended to guarantee the profitability of DG-PV systems and to assist the government in making decisions to promote these systems.

Mr Prebisch on the asymmetric Gold Standard

AbstractPrebisch is responsible for three significant but often ignored contributions to international macroeconomics. First, Prebisch characterised the Gold Standard as an unstable and asymmetric system, which worked for peripheral countries only when there was a balance of payments surplus. Second, Prebisch considered that the increasing importance of the US economy was the main reason for the collapse of the Gold Standard and the Great Depression, and rejected explanations based on the inflexibility of wages and prices. Third, and as response to the abovementioned issues, Prebisch implemented several policies in Argentina during the 1930s, lifting the country out of the crisis. These theoretical insights and the policy prescriptions predated significant contributions by eminent scholars and proved to be successful during the last decades.

Disentangling the distributive impact of fiscal policy

This paper measures the distributive impact of fiscal policy on personal and regional income distribution and provides a decomposition of the redistributive effect of fiscal policy for individual income units and when they belong to groups. This methodology is useful to identify how much of redistributive effect and also progressive/regressive effects apply within groups, between groups and among overlapping units, and whether there are tensions between different effects. The execution of fiscal policy in Argentina for year 2010 is the case of study. Fiscal policy reduces income inequality under both personal and regional definitions. The vertical effect is strong and weakly compensated by reranking. The vertical effect is a net result of progressive expenditures and regressive taxes. The selection of groups displays particular results. The findings are relevant for the design of fiscal policy in federal countries that pursue both efficiency and equity goals. In the case of Argentina (and this certainly can be extended to other federal countries), this may include rebalancing expenditures among different kinds or levels of governments, as well as the re-designing the tax system and eliminating tradeoffs observed from the current context.

Vaccines for all? A rapid scoping review of COVID-19 vaccine access for Venezuelan migrants in Latin America

IntroductionThe entangled health and economic crises fueled by COVID-19 have exacerbated the challenges facing Venezuelan migrants. There are more than 5.6 million Venezuelan migrants globally and almost 80% reside throughout Latin America. Given the growing number of Venezuelan migrants and COVID-19 vulnerability, this rapid scoping review examined how Venezuelan migrants are considered in Latin American COVID-19 vaccination strategies. Material and MethodsWe conducted a three-phased rapid scoping review of documents published until June 18, 2021: Peer-reviewed literature search yielded 142 results and 13 articles included in analysis; Gray literature screen resulted in 68 publications for full-text review and 37 were included; and official Ministry of Health policies in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru were reviewed. Guided by Latin American Social Medicine (LASM) approach, our analysis situates national COVID-19 vaccination policies within broader understandings of health and disease as affected by social and political conditions. ResultsResults revealed a heterogeneous and shifting policy landscape amid the COVID-19 pandemic which strongly juxtaposed calls to action evidenced in literature. Factors limiting COVID-19 vaccine access included: tensions around terminologies; ambiguous national and regional vaccine policies; and pervasive stigmatization of migrants. ConclusionsFindings presented underscore the extreme complexity and associated variability of providing access to COVID-19 vaccines for Venezuelan migrants across Latin America. By querying the timely question of how migrants and specifically Venezuelan migrants access vaccinations findings contribute to efforts to both more equitably respond to COVID-19 and prepare for future pandemics in the context of displaced populations. These are intersectional and evolving crises and attention must also be drawn to the magnitude of Venezuelan mass migration and the devastating impact of COVID-19 in the region. Integration of Venezuelan migrants into Latin American vaccination strategies is not only a matter of social justice, but also a pragmatic public health strategy necessary to stop COVID-19.

CITIZENSHIP AND HUMAN RIGHTS OF LATIN AMERICAN MIGRANTS IN THE CONTEXT OF HEALTH CARE EMERGENCY FOR COVID 19 IN ARGENTINA

In the context of the emergency caused by COVID 19 in Argentina, Latin American migrants have, for the most part, been excluded from the State’s Emergency Family Income in the face of the closing of borders and Preventive and Compulsory Social Isolation. The objective of this paper was the critical analysis of the reasons that led to this difference in treatment in emergency policies in Argentina. First, (I) it was studied the use of the supposed restrictive criterion of modern citizenship in "universalist" social policies, and also the conception of equality underlies them. In the second place, (II) it was deepened how the recent changes in migration policies, from the DNU 70/2017, led to the precariousness and irregularity of the situation in which the migrants were previously in the emergency by COVID 19 was deepened. Applying a multidimensional methodology, conceptual-philosophical, normative and empirical elements were addressed. By way of general conclusion, the need was raised to rethink models of belonging not limited to nationality and egalitarian, recognizing the rights of every inhabitant and resident, and moving towards new inclusive and multicultural post-national conceptions that can reverse the historical violation of migrants' human rights.

Justicia Transicional: ampliación de las leyes de reparación y el caso del insilio en la República Argentina

This article presents a chronological timeline focused on the reparation policies carried out in Argentina since the end of the last military dictatorship in 1983 to the present. It illustrates their origin, starting with some few sectorized acknowledgments by public sector institutions until becoming a diverse regulation able to cover several cases. Such reparation policies have extended the compensation time frame, and by means of judicial interpretation, even the margins of the law. Finally, in the context of the expansion of reparation policies in Argentina, it is necessary to ask whether internal exile should be considered as a case that needs to be regulated, taking into account the loss of rights and the damage inflicted on those who suffered it. For this purpose, a series of interviews with different victims were conducted.

Vinculación entre el Ordenamiento Territorial y la gestión del agua en Argentina y en la provincia de Buenos Aires. Análisis de aspectos normativos e institucionales (2003-2019)

Spatial Planning (SP) and Integrated Water Resources Management (IWRM) constitute central instruments to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) foreseen in the 2030 Agenda. Although there is a recognition of the importance of linking these policies, their connection has been scarcely studied. This work analyzes the link of normative and institutional aspects between SP and water management public policies in Argentina and the Buenos Aires Province (BAP) in the period 2003-2019. The methodological procedure included the review of relevant aspects of these policies at the national and provincial level, with emphasis on the main laws and proposed plans. At the national level, the absence of laws on both issues stands out; as well as the few points in common between them, with the exception of risk management. In the BAP there are two norms that strongly condition SP and water management at the local level, being their relationship weak. The research carried out makes it possible to highlight the importance of linking these processes from a comprehensive perspective in order to contribute to sustainability within the framework of the SDGs.

De Estándares Mínimos de Calidad a estrategias proyectuales: aportes disciplinares a los parámetros técnicos de la Vivienda Social en Argentina

<p>Considerando al proyecto como herramienta fundamental en la producción de conocimiento y a la Investigación Proyectual como un marco epistemológico pertinente para una investigación en arquitectura, este trabajo propone reconocer estrategias proyectuales hacia la adaptabilidad en los Estándares Mínimos de Calidad para Viviendas de Interés Social. Se hipotetiza que el cuerpo normativo no establece variables o indicadores que permitan establecer un patrón de referencia.</p><p>Aunque este trabajo recorta en la mediación de las políticas federales de vivienda en Argentina, en el análisis de la vivienda masiva se encuentra la posibilidad de revisar las pautas proyectuales que aún vigentes, determinan límites para la consideración de la adaptabilidad como factor mínimo de calidad. Como premisa describe además una particular y extendida forma de concebir el proyecto de la Vivienda Social. Parte de las conclusiones exponen que existe una relación directa entre el alcance de los estándares en términos discursivos y su valor técnico-proyectual –estrategias. Reconociendo esta situación como condicionante de la capacidad de los prototipos habitacionales para alcanzar satisfactorios niveles cualitativos, se sugieren entonces adecuaciones a lo establecido desde variables de interés específico para la arquitectura de la vivienda y como parte de los aportes disciplinares.</p>

Monetary Policy in Argentina from the Inflation of the 1970s to the Default of the New Millennium

Since the end of World War II, Argentina has been through an uninterrupted series of financial/fiscal and monetary crises that have gradually eroded the credibility of the economic institutions of the country. In the period from 1970 to 1990 alone, the Argentine economy experienced seven currency crises and three banking crises. The main objective of this contribution is to investigate the reasons for economic policy choices that, since the military dictatorship of Colonel Perón, have led the country to default, causing unemployment, the run on banks, popular uprising.

Cambiar las políticas de memoria

En los últimos cuatro años, el gobierno de Cambiemos ha realizado un giro en las políticas de memoria y de educación en Argentina. Extendiendo a nivel nacional ciertas políticas ya presentes en la Ciudad de Buenos Aires, con el triunfo de Mauricio Macri en el gobierno nacional y la asunción de Claudio Avruj a la Secretaría de Derechos Humanos y Pluralismo Cultural, se visibilizó a través de acciones y discursos una transformación del área. El presente artículo analiza este giro del período, observando cómo se privilegió cierto discurso mientras se buscó desarmar el construido por los gobiernos kirchneristas. Mientras se le quitó presupuesto a los sitios de memoria, archivos e investigadores, se establecieron fuertes lazos con quienes construyen la memoria del Holocausto en el país. Estas políticas mostraron además los lazos de Cambiemos con un sector de la comunidad judía local.

Housing policies in Argentina under President Macri (2015–2019): a divided nation perpetuating path dependency

This paper focuses on housing policy changes introduced by the administration of President Macri (2015–2019) which claimed to have made a U-turn in Argentinean policies. The study questions whether the housing policy changes introduced constitute a conjuncture with enduring consequences, or if the overall trajectory of the country’s housing events has only been temporarily disrupted by Macri’s administration. The paper contributes to current debates on path dependency studies in housing policies and a recent call for a more political focus in housing studies. It does so by analysing the reactive changes introduced during the conjuncture and their potential to create a new path in a politically divided nation. The results show how a dramatic turn in politics – from the extreme left to the right – can be ineffective in making enduring changes in policy paths. As more and more countries around the globe are facing an increasing polarisation and atomisation of domestic politics, the example of Argentina demonstrates that path dependency easily perpetuates in the housing systems of politically divided nations.

Fiscal Policy in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

Fiscal policy is useful as a government instrument for supporting the economy, contributing to an increase in employment, and reducing inequality through more egalitarian income distribution. Over the past 30 years, developing countries have failed to increase their real wages due to the lack of domestic value-added in the era of globalization, where global supply chains are the driving factor for attracting foreign direct investment. Under such circumstances, the role of fiscal policy has become an important factor in creating the necessary conditions for boosting the economy. With the end of commodity-export-led growth, Mexico experienced a moderate reduction of 5 percent in poverty between 2014 and 2018 due to the structural adjustment of social policies and its economic and trade relationship with the United States; during the same period there has been no change in poverty in Argentina, and Brazil has suffered a rise in poverty. Following the global financial crisis, greater attention has been paid to fiscal policy in developed and developing countries — specifically Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico (ABM) — in order to attain macroeconomic stability. One of the consequences of the financial crisis is rising income inequality and its negative effects on economic growth. Over the past decade, fiscal policy has been adopted for the economic recovery. However, the recovery has been accompanied by a decrease in real wages of the middle class. The purpose of the present research is to critically examine the results of fiscal policy in ABM and the United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Challenges of epidemics public communication to health policies in Argentina

The main objective of the article is to reflect on the communication of public health policies about epidemics in Argentina from the Health Communication perspective. The methodological design was based on the systematization and classification of social research findings about AIDS, Cholera, H1N1 fever and Dengue. The purpose is to develop the outlines of a research and communication framework designed to strengthen the skills to cope with the challenge of public communication on epidemics in the contemporary society.

The Role of Knowledge for Policy Preferences: Evidence from Argentina

Author(s): Petrachkova, Alexandra | Advisor(s): Treisman, Daniel Simon | Abstract: In this dissertation, I study the role of knowledge in policy preferences. In democracies, voters are often criticized for not being sufficiently informed when making their political decisions. Political scientists disagree about how consequential this ignorance is for the quality of democratic government. One camp emphasizes that people are capable of learning new information and that knowledge makes them change their views. Following this line of reasoning, I suggest using fundamental knowledge relevant to a specific policy domain rather than measuring knowledge that is directly related to the political world.I focus on one policy domain – economic policies. I use the Global Financial Literacy test developed by Standard a Poor’s as a proxy for economic knowledge. I ask respondents to complete this test at the end of the three original surveys that I conducted in Argentina in 2017, 2018, and 2019. In total, 10,457 individuals participated in the surveys. I choose this country to study the effect of knowledge on policy preferences because of a drastic change in economic policies in 2015. I find that those who score higher on the test are more likely to support pro-market economic policies, such as elimination of trade barriers, elimination of subsidies, and integration into the world financial markets. My identification strategy includes using a measure of knowledge that is uncorrelated with the most important driver for policy preferences – partisan attachments- and conducting analysis in two different contexts – economic boom and recession. The latter helps address possible confoundedness between financial knowledge and other factors, such as social status, that are important both for knowledge and policy preferences. In addition to observational evidence, I provide randomly selected respondents in the 2018 and 2019 surveys with survey treatments – passages in which consequences of economic policies in Argentina and Venezuela are discussed. The results largely support the view that information helps shape policy positions. I receive stronger results in 2018 than in 2019. In 2018, I find that respondents who received the treatment are more likely to support the open economy and the debt repayment. In 2019, the coefficients for the treatment dummies do not reach a conventional level of significance, although their signs are consistent with the hypothesis. Overall, my findings suggest that fundamental non-partisan knowledge matters when it comes to policy preferences.

Integration of Community pharmacy and pharmacists in primary health care policies in Argentina.

Argentina is a federal republic with approximately 44 million people, divided into 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. The health system is segmented into public, social security and private subsystems. The social security and private sectors cover more than 60% of the population. Total health expenditure in 2017 was 9.4% of gross domestic product. Primary health care (PHC) was considered as the principal strategy for universal coverage policy for health system reform in Latin America at the end of 20th century. The most remarkable characteristics of the Argentinian health system are its fragmentation and disorganization. An increase of public sector demands, due to a socioeconomic crisis, led to the subsequent collapse of the system, caused primarily by a sustained lack of investment. First care level decentralization to the Integral Health Service Delivery Networks (IHSDN) becomes the cornerstone of a PHC-based system. Pharmacists and community pharmacies are not formally mentioned in PHC policies or IHSDN. However, pharmacies are recognized as healthcare establishments as part of the first care level. Community pharmacists are the only health care professional whose profit comes from the margin on product sales. Contracts with social security and private insurances provide small margins which reduce the viability of community pharmacies. There is a preference by community pharmacies to diversify product sales instead of providing professional services. This is driven by marketing and economic pressures rather than patient care and health policies. Dispensing is the main professional activity followed by management of minor illness and associated product recommendations. Currently, there are no national practice guidelines or standard operating procedures for the provision of pharmaceutical services and there is no nationally agreed portfolio of services. National pharmacy organizations appear to have no official strategic statements or plans which would guide community pharmacies. There are some isolated experiences in community pharmacies and in public first care level pharmacies that demonstrate the possibilities and opportunities for implementing pharmaceutical services under the PHC approach. There is a real lack of integration of community pharmacies and pharmacists in the healthcare system.