Reassembling Social Security

Diego Snchez-Ancochea, Amrica Latina Hoy: Revista de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de Salamanca Review from previous edition The very successful career of Carmelo Mesa-Lago has been always characterized by the thoroughness of his arguments and the enormous richness of the empirical evidence he uses to support them. His latest book is the culmination of that scientific effort centered in promoting more effective and equitable social policies. It offers a demolishing criticism of the [structural] reforms but never falls into simplistic or superficial arguments, presenting instead numerous facets that enrich our understanding of such processes... a monumental work that excels for its wealth of information, rigor of the proposals, and the very interesting and ambitious research agenda that leaves us for the future

James Midgley, University of California Berkeley, Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare This compendious volume by Latin America's most respected social security scholar...is undoubtedly the definitive account of the marketization of pensions and health care in Latin America. It should be consulted not only by Latin American social security scholars but by anyone interested in issues of social policy, privatization and welfare. The author's painstaking research and wide knowledge and experience of the region has obviously informed this landmark study which objectively and dispassionately demonstrates ['using a wealth of statistical data'] that many claims about the positive effects of marketization have not been realized...Social security scholars will eagerly await Mesa-Lago's future reports on these developments

Luis Aparicio Valds, Director Anlisis Laboral, Lima, Mesa-Lago is an example of a university professor whose vast research has resulted in practical implementation, effectively contributed to the development of several disciplines, [and] significantly advanced the social sciences particularly economics through his valuable studies on poverty and social security. His works have no epitome Although there is an important literature on the theme of his book, published by international and regional organizations, we needed a comprehensive and comparative study of pension and health care reforms in all Latin American countries. This book fills that vacuum [and] we are sure that it will stimulate the debate, improve the understanding of the reforms and, above all, lead to better pensions and health care in Latin America

Aldo Isuani, Profesor de FLACSO, Nueva Sociedad Buenos Aires Thirty years ago Carmelo Mesa-Lago published his book Social Security in Latin America: Pressure Groups, Stratification and Inequality, fruit of a monumental research effort that open a field virtually absent in the disciplines of economics, sociology and political science in Latin America...after that pioneering work and a remarkable academic life he gives us another book of colossal dimension Reassembling Social Security: A Survey o...

Carmelo Mesa-Lago is Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of Economics and Latin American Studies at the University of Pittsburgh and has been a visiting professor or researcher in Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Spain, Uruguay, United Kingdom, and the United States, as well as a lecturer in 36 countries in Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America. He is the author of 73 books/monographs and about 240 articles/chapters published in 8 languages in 33 countries, most of them on social security including pensions and healthcare. He has worked in all Latin America countries and several in the Caribbean, as well as in Germany, Egypt, Ghana, and Thailand, as a regional advisor for ECLAC, a consultant with the ILO, the International Social Security Association (ISSA), PAHO, UNRISD, UNDP, and other U.N. branches, as well as most international financial organizations (World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank), and national and foreign foundations.

Preamble: Reassembling Social Security in Latin America; PART I: THE STATE OF PENSION AND HEALTH CARE IN THE REGION BEFORE THE REFORMS; 1. Social Security Principles, their Enforcement in Latin America, and Modifications by the Reforms; PART II: PENSION REFORMS AND THEIR EFFECTS; 2. Pension Reforms: Taxonomy, Objectives, and Actors; 3. Effects on Coverage, Equal Treatment, Solidarity, and Comprehensiveness/Sufficiency; 4. Effects on Unity, State Responsibility, Efficiency, and Social Participation; 5. Effects on Financial Sustainability and New Reform Goals; PART III: HEALTH CARE REFORMS AND THEIR EFFECTS; 6. Healthcare Reforms: Taxonomy, Objectives, Actors; 7. Effects on Universal Coverage; 8. Effects on Equal Treatment, Solidarity, and Comprehensiveness/Sufficiency; 9. Effects on Unity, State Responsibility, Efficiency, and Social Participation; 10. Effects on Financial Sustainability and Efficacy; PART IV: TOWARDS A BETTER SOCIAL SECURITY IN THE FUTURE; 11. Policies on Pensions and Healthcare