Costa Rica

Neoliberalism, Development, and the Costa Rican State

“…Against all odds and in contrast to other Latin American nations, Costa Rica sustained its welfare programs through the 1980s (Cortés Ramos et al, ; Martínez Frazoni & Sánchez‐Ancochea, ; Seligson & Martínez Franzoni, ). The reasons for this continuity are complex and include public opposition to reductions in public employment (Cortés Ramos et al, , pp.…”

“…Against all odds and in contrast to other Latin American nations, Costa Rica sustained its welfare programs through the 1980s (Cortés Ramos et al, ; Martínez Frazoni & Sánchez‐Ancochea, ; Seligson & Martínez Franzoni, ). The reasons for this continuity are complex and include public opposition to reductions in public employment (Cortés Ramos et al, , pp. 169–71) and the unique Costa Rican approach to resolving the fiscal crisis that favored “piecemeal solutions” that were orderly and emanated from differing longer‐term perspectives (Seligson & Martínez Franzoni, , p. 316).…”

“…Of note has been the transition from post‐World War II state management of a developmental‐oriented economic strategy to a free‐market model favoring international trade and direct foreign investment. At the same time, widely available social protections have contributed to the health, welfare, and educational capacity of Costa Rica's population, enhancing its appeal with international investors (Cortés Ramos, Hernández Naranjo, & Sánchez‐Ancochea, ; Molina & Palmer, ; Seligson & Martínez Franzoni, ; Torres‐Rivas, ).…”

“…Despite this success, recent events suggest that national covenants are fraying as Costa Rica works to sustain its social and economic progress (Cortés Ramos et al, ). The 2008–2011 recession contributed to high levels of public debt that have grown even more through the inability of labor interests, capital interests, and their political representatives to reach consensus on a solution.…”

“…It explores first the developmental (or desarrollista ) period in Latin American economic history that established long‐standing state interests in economic management in much of the region. As extensive scholarship has chronicled, the major economic reforms of Costa Rica's desarrollista period were reversed with a reorientation toward external markets and partners in the early 1980s (see Cortés Ramos et al, ; Martínez Franzoni & Sánchez‐Ancochea, , ; Molina & Palmer, ; Seligson & Martínez Franzoni, ; Torres‐Rivas, ).…”