Persistent Poverty and Excess Inequality: Latin America, 1970-1995 (original) (raw)

Poverty in Latin America: trends (1986-1998) and determinants

CUADERNOS DE …, 2001

This paper analyzes the evolution of poverty in Latin America. In 1998, about a third of the population was poor, and one sixth extreme poor. This represents 179 million poor people, of which 89 million lived in extreme poverty. The share of the population in poverty has decreased in the 1990s, and it is now back to its level of the mid 1980s. But due to population growth, the number of the poor has increased over the last fifteen years. The paper also investigates the impact of household characteristics on poverty, including demographics, education, employment, geographic location, migration, and ethnicity. Many of these characteristics have large impacts on per capita income and thereby on the probability of being poor or extremely poor.

Recent Trends in Income Inequality in Latin America

Economía, 2011

This paper documents patterns and recent developments on income inequality in Latin America (LA). New comparative international evidence confirms that LA is a region of high inequality, although maybe not the highest in the world. Income inequality has fallen in the 2000s, suggesting a turning point from the substantial increases of the 1980s and 1990s. The fall in inequality is significant and widespread, but it does not seem to be based on strong fundamentals.

Inequality Trends and their Determinants: Latin America over 1990-2010

2012

The paper reviews the steady and widespread decline in income inequality which has taken place in most of Latin America over 2002-10 and which--if continued for another 2-3 years--would reduce the average regional income inequality to pre-liberalization levels. The paper then focuses on the factors, which may explain such inequality decline. A review of the literature and an econometric test indicate that a few complementary factors played an important role in this regard, including a drop in the skill premium following a rapid expansion of secondary education, and the adoption of a new development model by a growing number of left-of-centre governments which emphasizes fiscally-prudent but more equitable macroeconomic, tax, social expenditure and labour policies. For the region as a whole, improvements in terms of trade, migrant remittances, FDI and world growth played a less important role than expected although their impact was perceptible in countries where such transactions were sizeable.

Inequality Trends and Their Determinants: Latin America over the Period 1990–2010*

Policy Changes and Lessons, 2014

The paper reviews the steady and widespread decline in income inequality which has taken place in most of Latin America over 2002-10 and which--if continued for another 2-3 years--would reduce the average regional income inequality to pre-liberalization levels. The paper then focuses on the factors, which may explain such inequality decline. A review of the literature and an econometric test indicate that a few complementary factors played an important role in this regard, including a drop in the skill premium following a rapid expansion of secondary education, and the adoption of a new development model by a growing number of left-of-centre governments which emphasizes fiscally-prudent but more equitable macroeconomic, tax, social expenditure and labour policies. For the region as a whole, improvements in terms of trade, migrant remittances, FDI and world growth played a less important role than expected although their impact was perceptible in countries where such transactions were sizeable.

Below the line: Poverty in Latin America

World Development, 1992

Despite gains in basic welfare indicators. poverty remains prevalent in Latin America. This paper surveys existing data on poverty in the region and discusses the relationship between growth, inequality and poverty. Given the inequality ol' income distribution in Latin America and the slow growth of output. policies to ovcrcomc poverty must involve more efficient allocalion of government rebourccs. redistribution and foreign aid.

The Rise and Fall of Income Inequality in Latin America

Oxford Handbooks Online, 2011

One of the most prominent features of Latin American countries is their high and persistent levels of socioeconomic inequalities. All nations in the region are characterized by large disparities among their citizens in income and consumption, access to education, land, ...

Exploring the Determinants of Inequality Changes in Latin America Along the Last Decade

I apply a variant of the microeconometric decomposition methodology proposed in Gasparini et al. (2000) and rst approached by Bourguignon et al. (1998), to assess the relevance of various factors a ecting inequality in the period 2003-2012 in some Latin American countries. Between 2003 and 2012, Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Uruguay had an average GDP annual growth of 5.26%, far above the historical average of these economies. Economic growth was accompanied by signi cant improvements in the labor market: the unemployment rate decreased about 3% and real wages increased around 30% (on average). This has helped to signi cantly reduce poverty and improve income distribution. The Gini coecient decreased on average 15%. The results obtained lead me to believe that most equalizing e ects were associated with the relative wage gains of low-skilled workers, and operated mainly through the reduction of returns to education and experience of high-skilled workers. Contrary to popular belief, the increases in employment and educational levels do not appear to be factors that improved income distribution. All these facts are consistent with two assumptions: (i) an increase in the relative demand for unskilled labor; (ii) a strengthening of labor institutions for low-skilled and/or informal workers.

Income Distribution in Latin America. The Evolution in the Last 20 Years: A Global Approach

2018

While Latin America has historically been considered a region of very high inequality, the performance of most Latin American countries in terms of reduction of income inequality has been remarkable good in the first decade of this century. Given that those improvements took place in a context of rising inequality in most of the world, the evolution of income inequality in the region has caught the attention of researchers and policy makers around the world. Taking advantage of a large database of comparable microdata from household surveys, this article updates the evidence on the trends of income inequality in all Latin American countries for the period 1992-2015. It also provides an analysis of how the distinctive evolution of income inequality in this century in Latin America has changed the position of the different countries of the region in both, the global distribution of income in the world and the global distribution of income in Latin America. Finally, the paper decompose...