State Response to Transnational Asset Accumulation: The Case of Argentina

Using the asset accumulation framework, and relying on interviews with civil servants working in the department of migrations for the Argentine government, this article addresses the response of the Argentine state to the accumulation and transfer of capital among Argentine emigrants. Contextualising the situation of Argentina in the ‘Latin American context', our primary focus is on four asset categories: financial, human, social and political. This inquiry identifies recent initiatives developed to approach Argentines residing abroad as well as some of the challenges faced by the Argentine state to ‘reconnect’ with emigrants.     

The compensation hypothesis goes east: FDI and welfare state demand in postcommunist countries

While existing research provides evidence that globalisation sparks citizen demand for the welfare state in wealthy Western democracies, less is known about how globalisation affects public demand for welfare elsewhere. This study explores the link between globalisation and welfare preferences in postcommunist countries by examining workers at multinational corporations (MNCs). These workers have previously been found to have lower levels of job security, even in Western Europe. Additionally, in the postcommunist context, MNC employment also frequently offers better opportunities than other available jobs. This combination of risk and benefit creates higher demand for social insurance (such as unemployment insurance) because MNC workers have both higher job insecurity and higher costs of job loss (if the benefits of MNC employment make it difficult to find an equally good job). Original survey data from Ukraine shows that MNC workers experience greater insecurity and are paid more than other workers. They also express preferences for more expansive welfare programmes, prioritising those related to labour market insurance. This pattern of MNC workers’ experience and preferences is confirmed in cross-national survey data from 30 peripheral economies, demonstrating that the compensation hypothesis has wider application than previously shown.