Several theoretical and methodological perspectives have been used to understand the trans-formations occurred during the last 20 years in the Costa Rican State. This work aims to de-fine a coherent approach of such transformations in order to understand them and be able to offer possible...

Public infrastructure services have been subject to dramatic regulatory reform since the 1980s in the European Union, particularly privatization, at the national level, and increased liberalization and deregulation, via the Single Market Programme. Despite this ambitious reform programme, there...

This essay concerns the ways in which public services – particularly household services such as communications, energy, water and transportation – have been regulated and deregulated, and analyses what consequences this has for users and citizens. Much of the deregulation of public services...

The European Commission has formally recognised that adequate provision of basic household services, including energy, communications, water and transport, is key to ensuring equity, social cohesion and solidarity. Yet little research has been done on the impact of the reform of these services...

Variations between the diverse pension systems in the member states of the European Union hamper labour market mobility, across country borders but also within the countries of the European Union. From a macroeconomic perspective, and in the light of demographic pressure, this paper argues that...

While research on happiness and capabilities has been growing rapidly, they seldom treated together for useful policy insights. Using a unique self-reported questionnaire about mental well being in the Pakistan Socio-Economic Survey (PSES), we measure Sen’s capabilities (freedom, functionings...

In India, over the years, the progress in women’s nutritional status has been less impressive and remains as a major problem for health policy. The dual burden of nutritional disorder of women in India is posing a serious challenge not only for nutritional policy but also for socio-economic...

Wellbeing in general is represented in terms of the quality of life of an individual or group. The different objective and subjective indicators that go into the composition of quality of life leave its definition and measurement elusive, despite its global recognition as a policy goal. Attempts...

This paper analyzes two social protection policies implemented in Argentina, with emphasis on those most vulnerable people: the `Plan de Inclusión Previsional´ (2005) for the elderly and the `Asignación Universal por Hijo para Protección Social´ (2009), aimed to children and adolescents...

The coverage rate of elderly people in Argentina has faced a declining tendency since the late ’90. With the aim to face this problem, in 2005 it was implemented the Plan de Inclusión Previsional which allowed elderly people to join a facility plan of payment to access to previsional benefit....