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Deconstructing the Decline in Inequality in Latin America

In: Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy

Author

Listed:
  • Nora Lustig

    (Tulane University)

  • Luis F. Lopez-Calva

    (The World Bank)

  • Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez

    (Tulane University and UNDP)

  • Célestin Monga

    (United Nations Industrial Development Organization)

Abstract

High inequality is a characteristic feature of Latin America. After rising in the 1990s, however, income inequality in the region has declined while it has increased in other parts of the world. For the region as a whole, the Gini co efficient declined from an average of 0.550 in the early 2000s to 0.496 circa 2012. Of the 18 countries with available data, 16 experienced a decline in their Gini coefficient during this period. What explains this remarkable shift in inequality trends in Latin America?

Suggested Citation

  • Nora Lustig & Luis F. Lopez-Calva & Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez & Célestin Monga, 2016. "Deconstructing the Decline in Inequality in Latin America," International Economic Association Series, in: Kaushik Basu & Joseph E. Stiglitz (ed.), Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy, chapter 7, pages 212-247, Palgrave Macmillan.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:intecp:978-1-137-55459-8_7
    DOI: 10.1057/9781137554598_7
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income Inequality; Minimum Wage; Tertiary Education; Gini Coefficient; Latin American Country;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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