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Inequality in Education: Evidence for Latin America

Author

Listed:
  • Guillermo Cruces

    (CEDLAS-UNLP, CONICET and IZA)

  • Carolina García Domench

    (CEDLAS-UNLP)

  • Leonardo Gasparini

    (CEDLAS-UNLP)

Abstract

This paper provides original empirical evidence on the evolution of education inequality for all Latin American countries over the decades of 1990 and 2000. The analysis covers a wide range of issues on differences in educational outcomes and opportunities across the population, including inequality in years of education, gaps in school enrollment, wage skill differentials and public social expenditure. The evidence indicates a significant difference between the 1990s and the 2000s in terms of both the assessment of the equity of the education expansion and its impact on the income distribution. In particular, the changes in the 2000s seem to have had a full equalizing impact on earnings given the more pro-poor pattern of the education upgrading and a more stable or even increasing relative demand for low skill labor.

Suggested Citation

  • Guillermo Cruces & Carolina García Domench & Leonardo Gasparini, 2012. "Inequality in Education: Evidence for Latin America," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0135, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    • Handle: RePEc:dls:wpaper:0135
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    File URL: http://cedlas.econo.unlp.edu.ar/archivos_upload/doc_cedlas135.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), 2000. "Handbook of Income Distribution," Handbook of Income Distribution, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    2. Marco Manacorda & Carolina Sanchez-Paramo & Norbert Schady, 2010. "Changes in Returns to Education in Latin America: The Role of Demand and Supply of Skills," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 63(2), pages 307-326, January.
    3. Gasparini, Leonardo & Galiani, Sebastian & Cruces, Guillermo & Acosta, Pablo A., 2011. "Educational Upgrading and Returns to Skills in Latin America: Evidence from a Supply-Demand Framework, 1990-2010," IZA Discussion Papers 6244, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
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    6. Barro, Robert J & Lee, Jong-Wha, 2001. "International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 541-563, July.
    7. Guillermo Cruces & Carolina García Domench & Leonardo Gasparini, 2011. "Inequality in Education: Evidence for Latin America," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2011-093, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Barro, Robert J. & Lee, Jong Wha, 2013. "A new data set of educational attainment in the world, 1950–2010," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 184-198.
    9. Cruces, Guillermo & Gasparini, Leonardo, 2011. "Inequality in Education: Evidence for Latin America," WIDER Working Paper Series 093, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    10. Leonardo Gasparini & David Jaume & Monserrat Serio & Emmanuel Vazquez, 2011. "La segregación escolar en Argentina. Reconstruyendo la Evidencia," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0123, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    11. Francois Bourguignon & Francisco H.G. Ferreira & Nora Lustig, 2005. "The Microeconomics of Income Distribution Dynamics in East Asia and Latin America," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 14844, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kaldewei, Cornelia & Weller, Jürgen, 2013. "Empleo, crecimiento sostenible e igualdad," Macroeconomía del Desarrollo 35881, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    2. Bruno Martorano & Marco Sanfilippo, 2015. "Structural Change and Wage Inequality in the Manufacturing Sector: Long Run Evidence from East Asia," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(2), pages 212-231, June.
    3. Lustig, Nora & Lopez-Calva, Luis F. & Ortiz-Juarez, Eduardo, 2013. "Declining Inequality in Latin America in the 2000s: The Cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 129-141.
    4. -, 2014. "Inestabilidad y desigualdad: La vulnerabilidad del crecimiento en América Latina y el Caribe," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 37042 edited by Cepal.
    5. Guillermo Cruces & Carolina García Domench & Leonardo Gasparini, 2011. "Inequality in Education: Evidence for Latin America," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2011-093, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. Ms. Evridiki Tsounta & Anayochukwu Osueke, 2014. "What is Behind Latin America’s Declining Income Inequality?," IMF Working Papers 2014/124, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Gustavo Canavire-Bacarreza & Luis C. Carvajal-Osorio, 2020. "Two Stories of Wage Dynamics in Latin America: Different Policies, Different Outcomes," Journal of Labor Research, Springer, vol. 41(1), pages 128-168, June.
    8. Azevedo, Joao Pedro & Davalos, Maria Eugenia & Diaz-Bonilla, Carolina & Atuesta, Bernardo & Castaneda, Raul Andres, 2013. "Fifteen years of inequality in Latin America : how have labor markets helped ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6384, The World Bank.
    9. Thomas Ziesemer, 2022. "Global Dynamics of Gini Coefficients of Education for 146 Countries: Update to 1950-2015 and a Compact Guide to the Literature," Bulletin of Applied Economics, Risk Market Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 85-95.
    10. Jianu, Ionut & Gavril, Ioana Andrada & Iacob, Silvia Elena & Hrebenciuc, Andrei, 2021. "Income Inequalities and their Social Determinants: an Analysis over Developed vs. Developing EU Member States," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 55(2), pages 125-142.
    11. Marina Bassi & Matias Busso & Juan Sebastián Muñoz, 2014. "Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? Enrollment, Graduation, and Dropout Rates in Latin America," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0170, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    12. Marina Bassi & Matias Busso & Juan Sebastian Muñoz, 2015. "Enrollment, Graduation, and Dropout Rates in Latin America: Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full?," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2015), pages 113-156, October.
    13. Juan Guerra-Salas, 2016. "Fiscal Policy, Sectoral Allocation, and the Skill Premium: Explaining the Decline in Latin America’s Income Inequality," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 779, Central Bank of Chile.
    14. Marina Bassi & Matias Busso & Juan Sebastian Munoz, 2013. "Is the Glass Half Empty or Half Full? School Enrollment, Graduation, and Dropout Rates in Latin America," Research Department Publications IDB-WP-462, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    15. Eduardo Fuentes-López & Adrian Fuente & Gonzalo Valdivia & Manuel Luna-Monsalve, 2019. "Does educational level predict hearing aid self-efficacy in experienced older adult hearing aid users from Latin America? Validation process of the Spanish version of the MARS-HA questionnaire," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(12), pages 1-20, December.
    16. Zamora, Christian Marvin B. & Dorado, Rowena A., 2015. "Rural-Urban Education Inequality in the Philippines Using Decomposition Analysis," Journal of Economics, Management & Agricultural Development, Journal of Economics, Management & Agricultural Development (JEMAD), vol. 1(1), June.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    education; inequality; enrollment; wage premium; Latin America;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I24 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Inequality
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • I28 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Government Policy
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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