About the Centre for the Future State

Research Programme Summary

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International Workshop, Lima (Peru)
11th/12th November 2008
Hosted by IEP. Funded by the DRC Future State and Revenue Watch Institute

The New Paradox of Plenty in the Andes
Budget coalitions, sub national governments and social monitoring

*Following the conclusion of the Workshop Javier Arellano has produced a short report which can be found on the main IDS Webpages here
Presentations from Andres Mejia Acosta (IDS - in English), Antoine Heuty (RWI - in Spanish), Roxanna Barrantes (IEP - in Spanish) and Roberto Laserna (CERES - in Spanish) are now available to view.

After nearly thirty years of costly economic adjustment policies and structural reforms, Latin American countries have enjoyed a significant economic boom in recent years thanks to the soaring prices of their main natural resource exports, mainly oil, minerals and gas. Paradoxically, this economic bonanza has produced different effects on the state’s ability to effectively address socio economic inequalities, promote greater democratic stability, and deliver better services for the poor in resource rich countries. Which factors help explain why resource revenues improve the quality of spending in some countries but not in others? Under what circumstances does stronger executive authority over the allocation of resources become a curse or a blessing in managing the wealth produced by the extractive industries? These are empirical questions which deserve further comparative research.

This two day workshop seeks to explore the research and policy implications of the new “paradox of plenty” in Latin America. The research question is whether windfall revenues have improved the state’s ability to produce sustainable and equitable budget allocations. The first part of the workshop will focus on the impact of natural resources on the formation of budget coalitions. From this perspective, the budget process is a critical policy arena where national and sub national political actors (government and opposition, elected and otherwise) bargain over spending allocations. A second part of the seminar will explore how the new budget coalitions have shaped the quality of spending in several Latin American countries. A final section will focus on citizen led initiatives to improve a country based monitoring of extractive industries and government spending at the sub national level.

The event will explore some synergies with ongoing research and policy oriented initiatives geared to analyse patterns of sub national spending (IADB).  We expect this event will help stimulate research initiatives and constructive partnerships for future engagement.

This workshop is an activity under DRC Future State: Research Programme 3 A full workshop agenda can be accessed here.