Equality Principles and Resource Allocation Mechanisms: Policy Implications
Principios de igualdad y mecanismos de asignación de recursos: relevancia para el análisis de las políticas públicas
Abstract (en)
The aim of this paper is the design of an analytical framework that enables the systematical study of the resource allocation mechanisms used by the public sector.
To design this framework, four principles steaming from the theories of justice and from the literature on welfare States and social policy are identified: right, need, merit and utility. Using the analytical framework developed, it is shown that these four principles can be nailed down into a typology of allocation mechanisms, that represents how public institutions are solving distributional issues in our societies.
This typology of resource allocation mechanisms is analyzed through the following criteria: effectiveness, discretion, transparency and robustness in order to evaluate those mechanisms and thus its validity for the public policies analysis.
Abstract (es)
El objeto del presente artículo es diseñar un marco de análisis que permita el estudio sistemático de los mecanismos de asignación de recursos, y en particular, de estos mecanismos de carácter público.
Para ello se identifican, a partir de las teorías de la justicia y de la literatura existente en materia de políticas sociales y de los Estados del bienestar, cuatro principios: derecho, necesidad, mérito y utilidad, y se muestra cómo estos principios se pueden concretar en cuatro mecanismos específicos de asignación de recursos, que revelan cómo las instituciones públicas resuelven los asuntos relacionados con la distribución de recursos en nuestras sociedades.
Esta tipología se estudia a partir de cuatro criterios de análisis que son: la efectividad, la discrecionalidad, la transparencia y la robustez, criterios que se operativizan con el objetivo de poder evaluar cada uno de los mecanismos identificados y con ello su validez para el análisis de las políticas públicas.
References
Bambra, Clare (2007), “Going beyond the Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism: Regime, Theory and Public Health”, en Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, Vol. 61 Nº 12, pp. 1098-1102. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/jech.2007.064295
Bardach, Eugene (2012), A Practical Guide for Policy Analysis: the Eightfold Path to More Effective Problem Solving, California, Sage.
Beetham, David (1996), Bureaucracy, Minnesota, University of Minnesota Press.
Bergh, Andreas (2004), “The Universal Welfare State: Theory and the Case of Sweden”, en Political Studies, Vol. 52 Nº 4, pp. 745-766. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9248.2004.00506.x
Blank, Rebecca (1997), It Takes a Nation, Princeton, Princeton University Press.
Christensen, Tom …[et al] (2007), Organization Theory and the Public Sector: Instrument, Culture and Myth, London, Routledge.
Daniels, Norman …[et al] (1996), Benchmarks of Fairness for Health Care Reform, Oxford, Oxford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780195102376.001.0001
Daniels, Norman y Sabin, James (1997), “Limits to Health Care: Fair Procedures, Democratic Deliberation, and the Legitimacy Problem for Insurers”, en Philosophy and Public Affairs, Vol. 26 Nº 4, pp. 303-350. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1088-4963.1997.tb00082.x
Drew, Christina y Nyerges, Timothy L. (2004), “Transparency of Environmental Decision Making: a Case Study of Soil Cleanup inside the Hanford 100 Area”, en Journal of Risk Research, Vol. 7 Nº 1, pp. 33-71. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1366987042000151197
Dunn, William (1981), Public Policy Analysis: an Introduction, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall.
Durose, Catherine (2009), “Front-line Workers and ‘Local Knowledge’: Neighbourhood Stories in Contemporary UK Local Governance”, en Public Administration, Vol. 87 Nº 1, pp. 35-49. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9299.2008.01737.x
Elmore, Richard (1985), “Forward and Backward Mapping: Reversible Logics in the Analysis of Public Policy”, en Policy Implementation in Federal and Unitary Systems: Questions of Analysis and Design, K. Hanf y T. A. J. Toonen (eds.), Dordrecht, Nijhoff. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-5089-4_4
Elster, Jon (1992), Local Justice, New York, Sage.
Esping-Andersen, Gøsta (1990), The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Princeton, Princeton University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/095892879100100108
Etzioni, Amitai (1964), Modern Organizations, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall.
Etzioni, Amitai (2010), “Is Transparency the Best Disinfectant?”, en Journal of Political Philosophy, Vol. 18 Nº 4, pp. 389-404. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9760.2010.00366.x
Gallie, Duncan (2007), “Welfare Regimes, Employment Systems and Job Preferences Orientations”, en European Sociological Review, Vol. 23 Nº 3, pp. 279-293. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcm001
Gerring, John y Thacker, Strom (2004), “Political Institutions and Corruption: the Role of Unitarism and Parliamentarism”, en British Journal of Political Science, Vol. 34 Nº 2, pp. 295-330. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0007123404000067
Goodin, Robert y Ware, Alan (1990), Needs and Welfare, New York, Sage.
Goodin, Robert; Headey, Bruce; Muffels, Ruud; y Dirven, Henk-Jan (1999), The Real Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511490927
Greenstein, Robert (1991), “Universal and Targeted Approaches to Relieving Poverty: an Alternative View”, en The Urban Underclass, C. Jencks y P. Peterson (eds.), Washington, Brookings Institution. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/20080226
Harvey, David (2009), Social Justice and the City, Athens, University of Georgia Press. Revised edition.
Heclo, Hugh (1977), A Government of Strangers: Executive Politics in Washington, Washington, Brookings Institution.
Lane, Jan-Erik (2005), Public Administration and Public Management: the Principal-Agent Perspective, London, Routledge.
Legrand, Julian (1989), The Strategy of Equality: Redistribution and the Social Services, London, Unwin Hyman.
Lewis, Jane (1992), “Gender and the Development of Welfare Regimes”, en Journal of European Social Policy, Vol. 2 Nº 3, pp. 159-173. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/095892879200200301
Marshall, Thomas H. (1950), Citizenship and Social Class, and Other Essays, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Masel, Joanna y Siegal, Mark L. (2009), “Robustness: Mechanisms and Consequences”, en Trends Genet, Vol. 25 Nº 9, pp. 395-403. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tig.2009.07.005
Mau, Steffen y Veghte, Benjamin (eds.) (2007), Social Justice, Legitimacy and the Welfare State, Aldershot, Ashgate.
Meyers, Marcia K. y Vorsanger, Susan (2003), “Street-Level Bureaucrats and the Implementation of Public Policy”, en Handbook of Public Administration, G. Peters y J. Pierre (eds.), Thousand Oaks, Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781848608214.n20
Miller, David (1999), Principles of Social Justice, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Nagel, Stuart (1991), Public Policy: Goals, Means and Methods, Lanham, University Press of America.
Okun, Arthur (1975), Equity and Efficiency: the Big Tradeoff, Washington, Brookings Institution.
Ostrom, Elinor (2000), “Crowding out Citizenship”, en Scandinavian Political Studies, Vol. 23 Nº 1, pp. 3-16. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-9477.00028
Palme, Joakim y Korpi, Walter (1998), “The Paradox of Redistribution and Strategies of Equality: Welfare State Institutions, Inequality, and Poverty in the Western Countries”, en American Sociological Review, Vol. 63 Nº 5, pp. 661-687. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/2657333
Palumbo, Dennis; Maynard-Moody, Steven; y Wright, Paula (1984), “Measuring Degrees of Successful Implementation”, en Evaluation Review, Vol. 8 Nº 1, pp. 45-74. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X8400800103
Pressman, Jeffrey y Wildavsky, Aaron (1984), Implementation: How Great Expectations in Washington are Dashed in Oakland: or, Why It's Amazing that Federal Programs Work at All, this Being a Saga of the Economic Development Administration as Told by Two Sympathetic Observers who Seek to Build Morals on a Foundation of Ruined Hopes, Berkeley, University of California Press.
Puyol, Ángel (2009), “Ética y priorización de las listas de espera en sanidad”, en Listas de espera: ¿lo podemos hacer mejor?, Barcelona, Fundación Víctor Grífols i Lucas.
Requejo, Ferrán (1990), Las democracias: democracia antigua, democracia liberal y Estado de bienestar, Barcelona, Ariel.
Rosenhead, Jonathan (2002), “Robustness Analysis”, en The Informed Student Guide to Management Science, Hans Daellenbach y Robert Flood (eds.), London, Thomson Learning.
Rossell, Christine (1993), “Using Multiple Criteria to Evaluate Public Policies: the Case of School Desegregation”, en American Politics Research, Vol. 21 Nº 2, pp. 155-184. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1532673X9302100201
Rossi, Peter; Lipsey, Mark; y Freeman, Howard (2004), Evaluation: a Systematic Approach, New York, Sage.
Rothstein, Bo (1998), Just Institutions Matter: the Moral and Political Logic of the Universal Welfare State, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511598449
Sabatier, Paul y Mazmanian, Daniel (1980), “The Implementation of Public Policy: a Framework of Analysis”, en Policy Studies Journal, Vol. 8 Nº 4, pp. 538-560. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.1980.tb01266.x
Sainsbury, Diane (2006), “Immigrants' Social Rights in Comparative Perspective: Welfare Regimes, Forms in Immigration and Immigration Policy Regimes”, en Journal of European Social Policy, Vol. 16 Nº 3, pp. 229-244. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0958928706065594
Sen, Amartya (1999), Commodities and Capabilities, New York, Oxford University Press.
Sen, Amartya y Williams, Bernard (eds.) (1982), Utilitarianism and beyond, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511611964
Shapiro, Ian (1998), Democratic Justice, New Haven, Yale University Press.
Shaver, Sheila (1998), “Universality or Selectivity in Income Support to Older People? A Comparative Assessment of the Issues”, en Journal of Social Policy, Vol. 27 Nº 2, pp. 231-254. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S004727949800525X
Skocpol, Theda (1991), “Targeting within Universalism: Politically Viable Policies to Combat Poverty in the United States”, en The Urban Underclass, C. Jencks y P. Peterson (eds.), Washington, Brookings Institution. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/20080225
Skocpol, Theda (2000), The Missing Middle, Washington, Century Foundation.
Sorensen, Aage (1998), “Theoretical Mechanisms and the Empirical Study of Social Processes”, en Social Mechanisms, P. Hedstrom y R. Swedberg (eds.), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Sossin, Lorne (2005), “From Neutrality to Compassion: the Place of Civil Service Values and Legal Norms in the Exercise of Administrative Discretion”, en University of Toronto Law Journal, Vol. 55 Nº 3, pp. 427-447. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/tlj.2005.0028
Stiglitz, Joseph y Walsh, Carl (2006), Economics, New York, W.W. Norton and Company.
Taylor-Gooby, Peter y Martin, Rose (2010), “Fairness, Equality and Legitimacy: a Qualitative Comparative Study of Germany and the UK”, en Social Policy and Administration, Vol. 44 Nº 1, pp. 85-103. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9515.2009.00701.x
Titmuss, Richard (1974), Social Policy: an Introduction, London, Allen and Unwin.
Ware, Alan y Goodin, Robert (1990), Needs and Welfare, New York, Sage.
Weimer, David L. y Vining, Aidan R. (2005), Policy Analysis: Concepts and Practice, New Jersey, Prentice Hall.
Weisberg, Michael (2006), “Robustness Analysis”, en Philosophy of Science, Vol. 73 Nº 5, pp. 730-742. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1086/518628
Whitehead, Margaret (1985), “The Concepts and Principles of Equity and Health”, Copenhagen, World Health Organization. Regional Office for Europe (Discussion Paper).
Wilson, James Q. (1989), Bureaucracy: What Government Agencies Do and Why They Do It, New York, Basic Books.
How to Cite
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Los contenidos de la revista se distribuyen bajo la licencia Creative Commons Reconocimiento-NoComercial 4.0 Internacional (CC BY-NC-4.0), que permite a los usuarios copiar, usar, difundir, transmitir y exponer públicamente los contenidos, siempre y cuando se cite la autoría (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0).