Centro de Economía y Políticas Sociales (CEAS)

How do neoliberal political economies threatened with declining competitiveness and social cohesion manage to remain neoliberal over time? This paper explores mechanisms of neoliberal continuity in Chile and Estonia by extending gradualist approaches to institutional change with the notion of institutional hierarchy. Neoliberal continuity, it is argued, depends on the ability of dominant groups to defend those institutions that are more favorable to their interests while altering those that are not in order to obtain political support from other social groups. The question is explored in relation to the parallel trajectory of two policy domains: monetary policy (exchange rates) and industrial policy. Dominant groups try to retain a conservative monetary policy and a neutral industrial policy by altering their parameters (marginal adjustment), narrowing their interpretation (solidification), or negotiating minor/larger concessions (accommodation/ compromise). While these mechanisms have allowed dominant groups in Chile and Estonia to retain neoliberalism, the timing and combination of different mechanisms over time have generated different trajectories of continuity. Estonia remains closer to a neoliberal orthodoxy whereas Chile has a more pragmatic trajectory.

El objetivo de este artículo es aportar nuevos elementos al debate sobre cómo analizar el desempeño de las políticas de protección social, con especial atención al caso chileno. Se desarrolla el
concepto coordinación y sus alcances en el ámbito de la protección social, generando un marco analítico que permite poner atención en tres aspectos críticos: la generación de expectativas y motivaciones entre los beneficiarios; la articulación de las agencias relacionadas con la producción de las prestaciones de protección social y la vinculación de los recursos sistémicos necesarios para producir dichas prestaciones. Estos elementos son operacionalizados en una matriz mediante la
cual se ordena el análisis y observación del desempeño de las políticas y programas en distintos aspectos de su funcionamiento.

El sistema de pensiones chileno constituye un hito en cuanto a la institucionalización de la responsabilidad individual y las decisiones individuales como determinante del desempeño previsional. Pocas evaluaciones se han realizado, sin embargo, a la manera como las personas toman sus decisiones en este sistema. A partir de un estudio cualitativo, el siguiente artículo explora cómo trabajadores/as de bajos ingresos de la ciudad de Santiago toman sus decisiones previsionales. Utilizando perspectivas recientes dentro de la sociología económica, el artículo ofrece una interpretación dinámica de las posibilidades de agencia en un escenario social complejo y novedoso, con foco en la construcción de marcos de calculabilidad que permiten tomar decisiones, y los elementos estructurales e institucionales que los condicionan. Estos últimos desbordan los marcos construidos y hacen necesarios procesos de re-encuadre por medio de los cuales la gestión previsional se entremezcla con estrategias para la generación de ingresos actuales.

The global financial crisis has stimulated much research about the resilience of neoliberalism. However, concrete mechanisms of neoliberal resilience are yet to be elaborated. This article elaborates such mechanisms by incorporating Amable's notion of institutional hierarchy into Mahoney and Thelen's gradual institutional change theory. In doing this, it provides a dynamic and politically grounded framework to analyze institutional resilience. Neoliberalism is maintained over time because dominant social blocs defend those policies and institutions that they perceive as more favorable to their interests (high hierarchy institutions), while allowing degrees of freedom in those that matter less (low hierarchy institutions). Four mechanisms account for the resilience of high hierarchy institutions: marginal adjustment, solidification, accommodation and compromise. I explore the potential of this framework by comparing the trajectory of two related policy domains, exchange rates and industrial policy, in countries with a long history of neoliberal policymaking: Chile and Estonia. JEL classification: P16 (Political economy), O24 (Exchange Rate), O25 (Industrial Policy)

Environmental policy in Chile has developed rapidly in recent years, and the country has become a regional leader in renewable energy, climate change policy, recycling, and nature conservation. This contrasts with the previous neglect of environmental issues in the country and its depiction as a ‘green laggard’ (Orihuela, 2014: 251) within Latin America. In this article the recent development of environmental policy in Chile is reviewed and five factors affecting this development are analysed: international influences, institutional legacies, a window of opportunity opened by environmental movements, policy entrepreneurship, and business power.

Neoliberalism has received particular attention in political science. Almost one quarter of the works found on WoS are political science pieces, followed by sociology and economics with 10% each (see Fig. 2). It seems, therefore, timely to assess what have we learned about the politics of neoliberalism. This review essay takes into consideration three recent books, as well as additional academic literature, to reflect on the current status of research on the politics of neoliberalism, particularly
in Europe’s periphery, drawing conclusions on neoliberalism as an empirical phenomenon and on the research practice behind the study of neoliberalism.