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The political economy of the middle class in the Dominican Republic : individualization of public goods, lack of institutional trust and weak collective action

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  • Sanchez, Miguel Eduardo
  • Senderowitsch, Roby

Abstract

This paper tries to uncover some of the hidden factors behind poor public service delivery in the Dominican Republic. By looking at three sector cases, education, health and electricity, it is possible to observe that in this setting of low quality of public services the"middle class"is opting out from the system and adopting private solutions to collective problems. The combination of this opting out behavior with low levels of institutional trust, especially among"middle class"members, fragmented interests and clientelism, among other factors, results in weak collective action and lack of effective demand for improvements in service provision. Some of the tentative policy options to break this sub-optimal equilibrium are i) to build capacity in civil society organizations and help them forming a pro-reform coalition, ii) reduce the gap between the middle class and the poorer by trying to improve the provision of public goods and enlarging the welfare state, and (iii) increase transparency mechanisms and introduce e-government formulas in order to optimize the allocation of public resources.

Suggested Citation

  • Sanchez, Miguel Eduardo & Senderowitsch, Roby, 2012. "The political economy of the middle class in the Dominican Republic : individualization of public goods, lack of institutional trust and weak collective action," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6049, The World Bank.
  • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6049
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Birdsall, N. & Graham, C. & Pettinato, S., 2000. "Stuck in the Tunnel: Is Globalization Muddling the Middle Class?," Papers 14, Brookings Institution - Working Papers.
    2. Easterly, William, 2001. "The Middle Class Consensus and Economic Development," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 6(4), pages 317-335, December.
    3. Besley, Timothy & Coate, Stephen, 1991. "Public Provision of Private Goods and the Redistribution of Income," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(4), pages 979-984, September.
    4. North, Douglass C. & Wallis, John Joseph & Webb, Steven B. & Weingast, Barry R., 2007. "Limited access orders in the developing world :a new approach to the problems of development," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4359, The World Bank.
    5. Luis F. Lopez-Calva & Nora Lustig, 2009. "The recent decline of inequality in Latin America: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Peru," Working Papers 140, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Jaime Aristy-Escuder & Maynor Cabrera & Blanca Moreno-Dodson & Miguel Sánchez-Martín, 2016. "Fiscal Policy and Redistribution in the Dominican Republic," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 1347, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    2. Sandra Martinez-Aguilar & Alan Fuchs & Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez & Giselle Del Carmen, 2017. "The Impact of Fiscal Policy on Inequality and Poverty in Chile," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 1346, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    3. Jaime Aristy-Escuder & Maynor Cabrera & Blanca Moreno-Dodson & Miguel Sánchez-Martín, 2016. "Fiscal Policy and Redistribution in the Dominican Republic," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 47, Tulane University, Department of Economics.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Health Monitoring&Evaluation; Public Sector Expenditure Policy; Population Policies; Public Sector Economics; Political Economy;
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