Subnational State Capacity and Social Welfare in Argentina

Abstract

State capacities have effects on almost all indicators of human progress: development and well-being, income per capita, access to services, reduction of violence, and even crisis management. This study analyzes whether provincial state capacities can help explain the enormous gaps in social welfare indicators within countries. It proposes a definition and a measurement of provincial state capacity in Argentina, a country with large regional asymmetries, and reports descriptive statistics and correlations between key variables using an original dataset. Results indicate that improving social welfare requires subnational states with high fiscal and bureaucratic capacity. The study concludes highlighting comparative implications and questions for future research.