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Distribution and growth in Latin America in an era of structural reform

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Author Info
Morley, Samuel A.
Abstract

The first section of this paper reviews the most recent evidence on inequality in 18 Latin American countries and shows that in all but four the changes in inequality over the 1990s were small and nsignificant. The distribution depends on the ownership and rate of return on assets, particularly human capital. In the short run changes in these two variables tend to be offsetting-growth widens skill-differentials which is regressive, but advances in education are progressive. The two effects roughly cancel each other out absent severe macroeconomic shocks or revolutionary changes in the rules of the game. The paper then summarizes various recent papers as well as the author's recent work on the impact of structural reforms on inequality. That work shows that the recent reforms have had a negative but small regressive impact on inequality mainly because many of the individual reforms had offsetting effects. Trade and tax reform have been unambiguously regressive, but opening up the capital account is progressive. Finally, the paper presents evidence of a significant slowdown in the growth rate and argues that given this fact and the insensitivity of the distribution to feasible policy measures, the main problem facing the region at present is not how to improve the distribution but rather how the increase the growth rate.

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Paper provided by International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) in its series TMD discussion papers with number 66.

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Date of creation: 2001
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Handle: RePEc:fpr:tmddps:66

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Related research
Keywords: Economic development Latin America. ; Equality Latin America. ; Income distribution. ; Poverty. ; TMD ;

References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:

  1. Miguel Székely & Marianne Hilgert, 1999. "What's Behind the Inequality we Measure: An Investigation Using Latin American Data," RES Working Papers 4188, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  2. repec:fth:inadeb:371 is not listed on IDEAS
  3. Suzanne Duryea & Miguel Székely, 1998. "Labor Markets in Latin America: A Supply-Side Story," RES Working Papers 4120, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  4. Jere R. Behrman & Nancy Birdsall & Miguel Székely, 2003. "Economic Policy and Wage Differentials in Latin America," Working Papers 29, Center for Global Development. [Downloadable!]
  5. Eduardo Lora & Gustavo Márquez, 1998. "The Employment Problem in Latin America: Perceptions and Stylized Facts," RES Working Papers 4114, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  6. Nancy Birdsall & Juan Luis Londoño, 1997. "Asset Inequality Does Matter: Lessons from Latin America," RES Working Papers 4066, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  7. Williamson, Jeffrey G, 1997. "Globalization and Inequality, Past and Present," World Bank Research Observer, Oxford University Press, vol. 12(2), pages 117-35, August.
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  8. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 565-91, September.
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