Em busca dos determinantes do nível de bem-estar social na América Latina

Abstract

In this paper; we investigate the proximate determinants of the aggregate level of social welfare in Latin America. We seek both, to identify the main factors that cause the level of welfare to be smaller. In the region when compared to the industrial economies, as well as, the factors that cause the level of welfare to vary accross countries within the region. In order to investigate the aproximate determinants of the aggregate level of social welfare, we write, at the micro level, the per capita income of a family as the product of a series of six factors: the dependency ratio, the proportion of adults in the family that are fully employed, the bargaining power of these workers in the labor market, the quality of the jobs they hold, the potential quality of the labor services they can provide, and the extent to which this potential qualify is actually provided. The preliminary empirical evidence presented in this paper shows that, from the factors above, those related to the quality of the job held by the workers and the quality of the potential quality of the workers are the main determinants of the difference in welfare between Latin America and the welfare level in the developed world.