Income and Influence

Kapstein and Milanovic study the implementation of social programs in post-Communist countries (where socialist policies once predominated) and in Third World countries that have only recently found the financial capital necessary to support such programs. Specifically, they examine three major economic crises of recent decades that sparked interest in the process of economic reform, structural adjustment, and social policy; those are: 1) the Latin American debt crisis of the 1980s; 2) the postcommunist transition; and 3) the Asian financial crisis. The authors also focus on what they call &quote;the most influential social policy innovations to emerge from the developing world&quote;: Chilean pension reform and unemployment insurance in Korea.