Autor/es
Descripción
ver mas
Colaborador
Salvia, Agustín
Idioma
spa
Extent
308 p.
Derechos
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 2.0 Genérica (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Formato
application/pdf
Identificador
Cobertura
ARG
2003-2014
Abstract
The general objective of this thesis is to describe the modes of households’ participation in the labour structure and in the system of social policies, and to evaluate its changes during the period of heterodox policies in Argentina (2003-2014). By binding households’ participation in the primary and in the secondary income distribution together, the thesis aims to analyse changes in their socioeconomic reproduction patterns, and to provide new evidences about the
existence of transformations in the relationship between the structural heterogeneity and the State social intervention in Argentina.
In contrast to the phase of structural adjustment (in the 1990s), a turn to heterodox macroeconomic policies and redistributive labour and social policies took place during the 2000s. This period was also characterised by the presence of some long-term features of the social accumulation regime (such as a high economic concentration, the productive specialization in raw materials exports and the external restriction). Thus, Argentina offers a proper scenario to evaluate the ability of the economic growth under heterodox policies to change the inequality patterns derived from the structural heterogeneity of labour markets, as well as to examine how social policies shape living conditions in a peripherical country.
This thesis is underpinned by three theoretical perspectives. Firstly, living conditions are tackled from a conceptual framework (mainly based on Latin American sociology) that emphasizes both labour power and households’ reproduction. According to these conceptual contributions, socioeconomic reproduction is related to needs satisfaction and thus to income distribution and based on the interaction of micro and macrosocial processes. Secondly, the structuralist approach, the thesis of economic marginality and the theories of labour market segmentation are crucial to comprehend the inequality dynamics that underlie socioeconomic structure in which the members of the households participate. Thirdly, we take a political economy interpretation of social policy, recovering its role in terms of the regulation of labour power reproduction and in the regulation of social conflict.
The general hypothesis is that the structural heterogeneity of the social regime of accumulation –and the insufficient labour demand of the most dynamic sectors of the economy– would have led to a persistent labour inequality pattern, with several consequences on households’ economic reproduction conditions and material wellbeing, thus restricting socioeconomic convergence during the period 2003-2014. However, we suggest that this pattern would not have impacted directly on living conditions due to the intervention –of variable relevance according to the moment of the period– of social policy benefits and households’ microsocial behaviours. These factors would have played a compensation role –even if limited, due to the structural conditions– on households’ economic reproduction conditions.
The research has followed a quantitative methodological design, based on cross-section data approach. Several multivariate analysis techniques were applied, as well as decomposition and microsimulation techniques. The main data source was the Permanent Household Survey (Encuesta Permanente de Hogares) carried out quarterly by the National Institute of Statistic and Censuses. We used microdata corresponding to fourth quarters of several years from 2003 to 2014.
The evidences gathered in this thesis reveal that the labour structure’s heterogeneity, the labour market segmentation and the economic marginality are processes strongly related to a rigid inequality pattern. This pattern affects households’ living conditions and inhibits socioeconomic convergence: whereas a part of the households has members working in dynamic, modern and productive economic sectors, another fraction remains linked to employment in micro enterprises without labour protection and with low incomes, thus particularly exposed to the risk of not satisfying their reproductive needs.
Households’ members labour behaviours intervene on this inequality pattern. However, in aggregated terms, their effect is quantitatively limited. With respect to social policy, the thesis shows that it increases its relevance upon those households that are vulnerable in terms of the occupational position of its members. In this vein, social benefits are a new part of those households’ reproductive balance. To sum up, the thesis suggests the existence of some changes in households’ socioeconomic reproduction patterns, at least during the considered period. However, it also reveals that in a context of a low economic “system integration” (derived from structural heterogeneity), social policy is not enough to guarantee living conditions’ convergence.
existence of transformations in the relationship between the structural heterogeneity and the State social intervention in Argentina.
In contrast to the phase of structural adjustment (in the 1990s), a turn to heterodox macroeconomic policies and redistributive labour and social policies took place during the 2000s. This period was also characterised by the presence of some long-term features of the social accumulation regime (such as a high economic concentration, the productive specialization in raw materials exports and the external restriction). Thus, Argentina offers a proper scenario to evaluate the ability of the economic growth under heterodox policies to change the inequality patterns derived from the structural heterogeneity of labour markets, as well as to examine how social policies shape living conditions in a peripherical country.
This thesis is underpinned by three theoretical perspectives. Firstly, living conditions are tackled from a conceptual framework (mainly based on Latin American sociology) that emphasizes both labour power and households’ reproduction. According to these conceptual contributions, socioeconomic reproduction is related to needs satisfaction and thus to income distribution and based on the interaction of micro and macrosocial processes. Secondly, the structuralist approach, the thesis of economic marginality and the theories of labour market segmentation are crucial to comprehend the inequality dynamics that underlie socioeconomic structure in which the members of the households participate. Thirdly, we take a political economy interpretation of social policy, recovering its role in terms of the regulation of labour power reproduction and in the regulation of social conflict.
The general hypothesis is that the structural heterogeneity of the social regime of accumulation –and the insufficient labour demand of the most dynamic sectors of the economy– would have led to a persistent labour inequality pattern, with several consequences on households’ economic reproduction conditions and material wellbeing, thus restricting socioeconomic convergence during the period 2003-2014. However, we suggest that this pattern would not have impacted directly on living conditions due to the intervention –of variable relevance according to the moment of the period– of social policy benefits and households’ microsocial behaviours. These factors would have played a compensation role –even if limited, due to the structural conditions– on households’ economic reproduction conditions.
The research has followed a quantitative methodological design, based on cross-section data approach. Several multivariate analysis techniques were applied, as well as decomposition and microsimulation techniques. The main data source was the Permanent Household Survey (Encuesta Permanente de Hogares) carried out quarterly by the National Institute of Statistic and Censuses. We used microdata corresponding to fourth quarters of several years from 2003 to 2014.
The evidences gathered in this thesis reveal that the labour structure’s heterogeneity, the labour market segmentation and the economic marginality are processes strongly related to a rigid inequality pattern. This pattern affects households’ living conditions and inhibits socioeconomic convergence: whereas a part of the households has members working in dynamic, modern and productive economic sectors, another fraction remains linked to employment in micro enterprises without labour protection and with low incomes, thus particularly exposed to the risk of not satisfying their reproductive needs.
Households’ members labour behaviours intervene on this inequality pattern. However, in aggregated terms, their effect is quantitatively limited. With respect to social policy, the thesis shows that it increases its relevance upon those households that are vulnerable in terms of the occupational position of its members. In this vein, social benefits are a new part of those households’ reproductive balance. To sum up, the thesis suggests the existence of some changes in households’ socioeconomic reproduction patterns, at least during the considered period. However, it also reveals that in a context of a low economic “system integration” (derived from structural heterogeneity), social policy is not enough to guarantee living conditions’ convergence.
Título obtenido
Doctor en Ciencias Sociales
Institución otorgante
Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales