Análisis de las políticas públicas de empleo autogestionado implementadas por el Estado nacional argentino durante el periodo 2003-2015

1. Do social public policies meet the needs of
vulnerable self-employed workers?
María Eugenia Castelao Caruana
UBA – CONICET
eugecastelao@gmail.com

2. Introduction
• In most Latin American countries, there are public policies that promote self-
employment and encourage unemployed individuals from vulnerable households
to create self-managed enterprises.
• Usually, these policies have a twofold objective:
▫ Employment reduction (primary)
▫ Innovation and/or local development (secondary)
• However, these policies are criticized because:
▫ Entrepreneurship is considered a hedging against unemployment
▫ Small firms have a low impact on local development
• Empirical Evidence
▫ These policies impact on employment rate
▫ Their impact on the average household income, however, is variable
• But do these public policies meet the specific needs of their target population to
manage sustainable firms and to achieve, at least, reasonable working conditions?

3. Argentina (2003- 2015)
• Public policies promoting self-managed enterprises have been implemented since
2003, adopting most of them principles and/or forms of organization associated
with Social Economy.
• Nine programs and three laws have been applied
Target population
• Unemployed individuals from poor and vulnerable households
• Self employed workers from poor and vulnerable households
▫ Own account workers without employees
▫ Associative groups
▫ Household-based enterprises
• Work co-operatives ´ members
• On balance, these policies were aimed to 25% of the working population in 2003

4. What are the needs of self-employed workers?
• According to literature (on entrepreneurship)
Three comprehensive dimensions:
- Economic context
- Institutional framework
- Socioeconomic characteristics
• According to Urban Household Surveys from 2003 and 2014:
Among poor and vulnerable self-employed:
2003 2014
Didn´t finish high school 67,7% 70,1%
Worked in the street or their own house 30,4% 35,1%
Didn´t have equipment 53,6% 29,5%
Developed its activity in the informal sector 81,8% 87%

5. Public policies´ resources
Resources
•For the purchase of equipment and consumable goods
•For community associative projects
Subsidies
•For buying equipment and consumable goods
•For consumption
Microcredit
•Adding value throughout chains
•Improving commercialization among communities
Technical assistance
•To improve the firm´s management
•To improve working skills
Training
• To access new markets
Collective brands
Street fairs
•To formalize their work
•To access health insurance system
Tax benefits
•To provide employment and incomeState sponsored work cooperatives
•To increase social capital
•To empower communities
Social Economy

6. The implementation stage
• These policies have addressed issues relevant to improve the working conditions
of self-employed workers in their formulation.
• However, in their stage of implementation, most policies have depended on local
organizations to reach their target population.
• So, public policies´ effectiveness for improving working conditions for self-
employed has depended on the interaction between the State and local
organizations:
▫ the level of influence of local organizations on the stage of implementation,
their possibility to take decisions;
▫ the expertise of local organizations to adapt public instruments and the
different resources local organizations put into play;
▫ the political logic of local organization and their understanding of Social
Economy; in particular, their level of knowledge of the cooperative principles
and practices when it comes to programs that promote the creation of work
cooperatives

7. Conclusions
• Analyzed public policies have addressed issues that, according to the literature
and social actors, are relevant to improve the working conditions of self-employed
workers
• However, public policies´ effectiveness for improving working conditions for self-
employed has depended on the interaction between the State and local
organizations and their strategies.
• To addressed social capital among vulnerable self-employed workers and to create
sustainable jobs with these policies, local organizations need to understand the
meaning of Social Economy.
• National State has acknowledged self-employed workers through normative and
policies. However, it still conceives associative self-managed firms as transitional
forms of organization for vulnerable workers.

8. Thank you
Obrigado
Gracias
María Eugenia Castelao Caruana
UBA – CONICET
eugecastelao@gmail.com