Conditional Cash Transfer Programs in Ecuador and Chile: The Role of Policy Diffusion

This book offers readers a deeper understanding of the diffusion process of the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programs in Latin America and the role played by experts and international organizations. CCTs have been increasingly implemented around the world in recent decades, and by 2010, 17 countries in Latin America had adopted them. The evidence suggests that this concentration is due to a process of policy diffusion. International organizations contribute to this process; however, the book’s main argument is that there was another, more important actor involved: a regional epistemic community that increased the availability of information about CCTs and reinforced their legitimacy, playing a role in the domestic processes of formulation and adoption.

Cecilia Osorio Gonnet holds a Ph.D. in Political and Social Sciences from the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Politics and Government Department, Universidad Alberto Hurtado, Chile. Her most recent book was “Learning or emulating: how social policies are disseminated in Latin America” (2018).