Using two alternative indicators of redistribution -social transfers and social spending- over the time-period 1880-1933 and using two alternative proxies for inequality -the percentage of non-family farms and the top income shares-, this paper shows that, contrary to what many studies on the...

Antes de 1936, el seguro privado contra el paro estuvo básicamente a cargo de los sindicatos, mientras que las compañías comerciales no se adentraron en esta rama del seguro, lo que se podría explicar por las ventajas que los primeros tenían a la hora de combatir los problemas de selección...

Using new data on Spain and Portugal 1950-1980, this paper shows that non-democratic governments were less generous in providing social protection and also financed their meager social policy in a less redistributive way. This contradicts recent studies that hold that dictatorships have no...

Before 1977, the Spanish government was unable (or unwilling) to increase taxation to finance new social programs. As an alternative to this lack of fiscal capacity, Spanish policy makers in the early 20th century promoted contributive social insurance schemes (mostly financed from employers'...