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| Latin American Center for Economic and Social Policies | |
|---|---|
| Name | Latin American Center for Economic and Social Policies |
| Native name | Centro Latinoamericano de Políticas Económicas y Sociales |
| Formation | 1990 |
| Type | Research institute |
| Headquarters | Buenos Aires, Argentina |
| Region served | Latin America and the Caribbean |
| Leader title | Director |
| Leader name | María Rodríguez |
Latin American Center for Economic and Social Policies The Latin American Center for Economic and Social Policies is a Buenos Aires–based research institute that conducts policy analysis across Latin American and Caribbean contexts, engaging with academic, civic, and international organizations. It links applied research with advocacy through collaborations with universities, multilateral agencies, and civil society groups to influence public debates and technical reforms in the region.
Founded in 1990 amid post–Washington Consensus reforms, the Center drew early staff from institutions such as FLACSO, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, and Universidad de São Paulo. Its formative networks included scholars associated with Inter-American Development Bank, World Bank, United Nations Development Programme, Organization of American States, and Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean. The Center expanded during the 2000s with fellowships from foundations like Ford Foundation, Rockefeller Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and ties to think tanks such as Centro de Implementación de Políticas Públicas para la Equidad y el Crecimiento, Fundación Getulio Vargas, CIPPEC, and Grupo de Puebla. Notable advisors have included researchers linked to Harvard University, London School of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia University, and Universidad de Chile.
The Center's mission emphasizes evidence-based policy change across social protection, labor markets, taxation, and public health, cooperating with actors such as Pan American Health Organization, World Health Organization, International Labour Organization, United Nations Children's Fund, and UN Women. Objectives include producing actionable studies for legislatures like the Argentine National Congress, Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, Mexican Congress, and regional bodies such as the Pacific Alliance and MERCOSUR. It seeks to convene experts from institutions like Banco de la República (Colombia), Banco Central de Chile, Banco Central de Brasil, Banco de México, and Banco Central de Reserva del Perú to inform fiscal and social policy debates.
Governance comprises a board with representatives from universities and NGOs including Universidad de los Andes (Colombia), Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú, Universidad de la República (Uruguay), Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, and Fundación Avina. The executive team coordinates research units named after thematic areas commonly used in collaborations with OECD, UNDP, ILO, and IADB. Administrative oversight operates through grant management procedures compatible with donors such as European Commission, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, USAID, and Canadian International Development Research Centre.
Research areas include social protection, taxation, labor formalization, urban poverty, health financing, and environmental policy, drawing on comparative work with Universidad Iberoamericana, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, Universidad Diego Portales, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Universidad de Costa Rica, Universidad del Valle (Colombia), and Universidad Católica de Chile. Publications comprise policy briefs, working papers, and peer-reviewed articles that appear in journals affiliated with Latin American Research Review, Economía, Revista de Economía Institucional, Cuadernos de Economía, and collaborations cited by The Lancet, American Economic Review, Journal of Development Economics, and World Development. The Center has produced comparative studies on conditional cash transfers linked to Bolsa Família, Progresa, and Chile Solidario, labor formalization referencing Plan de Empleo Juvenil (Argentina), and fiscal studies comparing tax expenditures across Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Peru, and Mexico.
Programs include a fellowship program for early-career researchers in partnership with Becas Fulbright, a regional data hub modeled on initiatives by CEDLAS, and capacity-building workshops delivered with CLACSO, Asamblea Nacional de Ecuador, Congreso de la República del Perú, and municipal governments such as Gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires and Prefeitura de São Paulo. Initiative themes have covered pandemic response strategies in coordination with Ministerio de Salud de Argentina, Ministerio de Salud de Chile, and Secretaría de Salud de México, urban resilience projects with CAF – Development Bank of Latin America and the Caribbean, and indigenous policy dialogues involving representatives from CONAIE and National Indigenous Organization of Colombia.
The Center’s partnerships span multilateral agencies, academic networks, and philanthropic funders including Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, International Monetary Fund, Global Partnership for Education, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Benjamin Meaker Visiting Professorship, and regional banks such as Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina. Core funding sources include unrestricted grants from Ford Foundation and project grants from European Union programs, bilateral cooperation from Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo, and competitive research awards from entities like Wellcome Trust and Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.
The Center’s analyses have influenced legislation and reforms—cited in debates in Congreso de la Nación Argentina, policy memos for Presidencia de la República del Perú, budget hearings in Cámara dos Deputados (Brazil), and reports for Ministerio de Hacienda (Chile). Independent evaluations by auditors linked to Transparency International and assessments used by Open Data Charter allies have praised data transparency practices while civil society coalitions including Movimiento de Trabajadores Desocupados and Colectivo de Mujeres have criticized perceived donor influence and occasional alignment with International Monetary Fund–style fiscal conditionalities. Academic critics from University of California, Berkeley, Yale University, Sciences Po, and Universidad de los Andes have debated methodological choices in quasi-experimental work compared to randomized trials favored by researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Princeton University.