En un marco de expansión del gasto y de mejoras de la equidad, e inserta en un sistema de salud dual, esta reforma de la gestión de la salud pública en Chile pretende consolidar una ventaja de costos respecto del sector privado. Se ha acentuado la distinción entre la función reguladora, la financiera y la proveedora en el sector público y se ha fomentado una relativa oposición de intereses entre ellas, en aras de generar cuasimercados. Los compromisos de gestión establecidos entre el Ministerio de Salud y los Servicios de Salud rompen con la lógica de una asignación de recursos gui…
The statement starts with a balance of the 15-years period of the economic reforms occurred in the region, up to the Mexican financial crisis in 1995. The main lesson to be drawn from this period refers to the need of supplementing and reinforcing macro-economic policy, together with the application of public policy measures at the micro-, meso-, and institutional levels, in order to support productive modernization, the development of financial and labour markets and the establishment or strengthening of institutions which can help to create an environment conducive to development.
Further on…
ECLAC has submitted an overall assessment of the economic reforms implemented during the past 15 years to the Governments of the region and, based on that assessment, a proposal for strengthening the development process. The central message that emerges from this analysis is that the region needs to work towards forming closer linkages among its macroeconomy, microeconomy and institutional structure by reinforcing the complementarities between macroeconomic and microeconomic sources of competitiveness and fortifying the institutional framework for the development of production activity. Withou…
The success of global policies and strategies aimed at training for productive work depends to a large extent on the level of development of basic skills among the work force and, likewise, training costs will vary according to the level of general preparation of those entering on the process. In view of the close relationship between the structure of the school system, the development of basic skills and actual training, different options are available for attempting to resolve imbalances between training for productive employment and previous basic education. These range from expanding and u…
This article deals with various aspects relating to social investment funds, especially their financing, the sustainability of the resulting projects, and the role of funds vis-à-vis ministries and the political authorities. The links between such funds and non-governmental organizations and the role played by external cooperation are also examined. Social investment funds were set up in order to relieve poverty and soften the effects of the adjustment policies of the 1980s. They have proved to be effective means of channelling flows of external finance and ensuring that they result in concret…
The Caribbean countries are acutely conscious of their small size, whether judged by one or all of the criteria of land area, population or gross domestic product (GDP);. Paradoxically, this impels them to join a larger trading group for fear that they might otherwise be denied a place in the mainstream of international activity. This article analyses several characteristics of small countries, with particular attention to those that seem especially relevant to the Caribbean. The paper notes that small size does indeed place greater demands on the national leadership as regards appropriate and…
Against a background of increased expenditure and improved equity, this reform of public health management in Chile, set in the context of a dual health system, aims to consolidate a cost advantage over the private sector. Emphasis has been placed on the distinction between the regulatory, financial and supply functions in the public sector, and a relative opposition of interests between them has been encouraged, with a view to generating quasi-markets. The management commitments entered into between the Ministry of Health and the Health Services mark a departure from the strategy …
Resumen En América Latina y el Caribe, en el contexto de profundos cambios tecnológicos y de organización, el futuro de la economía y del mercado laboral dependerá en gran medida de la capacidad de innovación y de la calidad de los servicios o productos que se generen. Esto conduce a la consideración del factor humano como un recurso esencial, y plantea la necesidad de un cambio cualitativo del papel, los contenidos y la metodología de la educación y la capacitación. Asimismo, los nuevos contextos democráticos exigen la constitución de actores sociales y políticos con capacidad crítica y respe…
Resumen Si bien las violaciones de los derechos humanos afectan tanto a los hombres como las mujeres, su impacto varía de acuerdo con el sexo de la víctima. Los estudios sobre la materia permiten afirmar que toda agresión perpetrada contra una mujer tiene alguna característica que permite identificarla como violencia de género. Esto significa que está directamente vinculada a la desigual distribución del poder y a las relaciones asimétricas que se establecen entre varones y mujeres en nuestra sociedad, que perpetúan la desvalo-rización de lo femenino y su subordinación a lo masculino. Lo que d…
Presentación. La crisis que se desencadenó en la región a principios de la década de 1980 dio comienzo a un complejo período de desequilibrios y ajustes que, en la mayoría de los casos, llevó a los países a emprender reformas estructurales encaminadas a configurar economías más estables y más integradas al entorno internacional, capaces de crecer de modo significativo y sostenido. Los cambios de orientación de la política económica, el compromiso de los gobiernos con los objetivos de las reformas y la estabilización progresiva de las economías coincidieron con modificaciones favorables del con…