Política pública para la población adulta mayor e impacto de la Pensión Asistencial del Programa «Bono de Desarrollo Humano» en Ecuador

Abstract

This doctoral thesis is oriented to contribute to the analysis and evaluation of public policies for older people, executed by the central state in Ecuador, with special emphasis on non-contributory social protection and on people aged 65 years and over who are not covered by the social security. According that goal, it is divided in two roads. On the one hand, from a qualitative approach, the scope of public policies is analyzed, and, on the other, with a quantitative approach, the social pension of the Human Development Bonus program, focused on the population living under poverty, is evaluated. In the qualitative component, the new institutional approach, path dependence and systemic approach are used. They are applied to the analysis of the public agenda as well as the variables of quality and policy coverage. In the quantitative part, an impact evaluation is developed applying the quasi-experimental method, Propensity Score Matching. For the estimations, data from the latest survey of living conditions, carried out in Ecuador between 2013 and 2014, is used. Findings allowed us to identify that the public policies for older people are in a peripheral place in the State priorities. They are affected by an institutional ageism and a pro-poor people orientation. Institutional vision that leaves a part of the elderly out of the benefits. Also, the impact evaluation provided evidence that suggests that the social pension would not be contributing to the reduction of poverty by consumption.