La evolución del gasto público social en América Latina, periodo 2002-2017

Abstract

The growing trend in social public spending in Latin America allowed the implementation of public policies that reduced people's social and economic inequalities; however, in recent years, the growth of social spending in the region has stopped. Therefore, the aim of this research is to determine the factors - economic, demographic and political - that influence the behaviour of general social public spending and its main components, in Latin American countries, period 2002-2017. For this purpose, fixed-effect error correction models are estimated using data from sources such as ECLAC, World Bank, IDB and Freedom House. The results suggest that economic factors have a short-term influence on developments in social public spending, while demographic and political factors have an impact on the long term.