This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Economics Reform and Wage Differentials in Latin America

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Miguel Székely
Nancy Birdsall
Jere R. Behrman

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This paper develops and applies a new approach to the estimation of the impact of economy-wide reforms on wage differentials, using a new high-quality data set on wage differentials by schooling level for 18 Latin American countries for the period 1980-1998. The results indicate that reform overall has had a short-run disequalizing effect of expanding wage differentials, although this effect tends to fade over time. This disequalizing effect is due to the strong impact of domestic financial market reform, capital account liberalization and tax reform. On the other hand, privatization contributed to narrowing wage differentials, and trade openness had no effect on wage differentials. Technological progress, rather than trade flows, appears to be a channel through which reforms are affecting inequality. The paper also explores the effects of reforms on wage levels; tentative results suggest that reforms have had a positive effect on real average wages, but a negative effect on the wages of less-schooled workers. Keywords: reform, inequality, wages, trade, distribution

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.iadb.org/res/includes/pub_hits.cfm?pub_id=WP-435&pub_file_name=pubWP-435.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department in its series RES Working Papers with number 4235.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: Oct 2000
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:idb:wpaper:4235

Contact details of provider:
Postal: 1300 New York Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20577
Phone: 202-623-1000
Email:
Web page: http://www.iadb.org/res
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Luis Daniel Martinez).

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

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. Beyer, Harald & Rojas, Patricio & Vergara, Rodrigo, 1999. "Trade liberalization and wage inequality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 103-123, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Deininger, K & Squire, L, 1996. "Measuring Income Inequality : A New Data-Base," Papers 537, Harvard - Institute for International Development.
  3. Lawrence F. Katz & Kevin M. Murphy, 1991. "Changes in Relative Wages, 1963-1987: Supply and Demand Factors," NBER Working Papers 3927, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Murphy, Kevin M & Welch, Finis, 1992. "The Structure of Wages," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(1), pages 285-326, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Levinsohn, James, 1993. "Testing the imports-as-market-discipline hypothesis," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1-2), pages 1-22, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  6. Birdsall, Nancy & Londono, Juan Luis, 1997. "Asset Inequality Matters: An Assessment of the World Bank's Approach to Poverty Reduction," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 32-37, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Philippe Aghion & Eve Caroli & Cecilia Garcia-Penalosa, 1999. "Inequality and Economic Growth: The Perspective of the New Growth Theories," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(4), pages 1615-1660, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  8. Bartel, Ann P & Lichtenberg, Frank R, 1987. "The Comparative Advantage of Educated Workers in Implementing New Technology," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 69(1), pages 1-11, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Schultz, Theodore W, 1975. "The Value of the Ability to Deal with Disequilibria," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 827-46, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Berman, Eli & Bound, John & Griliches, Zvi, 1994. "Changes in the Demand for Skilled Labor within U.S. Manufacturing: Evidence from the Annual Survey of Manufactures," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(2), pages 367-97, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Pencavel, John, 1987. "Labor supply of men: A survey," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & R. Layard (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 1, pages 3-102 Elsevier. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Welch, F, 1970. "Education in Production," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(1), pages 35-59, Jan.-Feb.. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Ann Harrison & Gordon Hanson, 1999. "Who Gains from Trade Reform? Some Remaining Puzzles," NBER Working Papers 6915, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  14. Borjas, George J & Ramey, Valerie A, 1995. "Foreign Competition, Market Power, and Wage Inequality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 110(4), pages 1075-1110, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Blundell, Richard, et al, 2000. "The Returns to Higher Education in Britain: Evidence from a British Cohort," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 110(461), pages F82-99, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. Wood, Adrian, 1997. "Openness and Wage Inequality in Developing Countries: The Latin American Challenge to East Asian Conventional Wisdom," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(1), pages 33-57, January.
  17. Behrman, Jere R. & Rosenzweig, Mark R., 1999. ""Ability" biases in schooling returns and twins: a test and new estimates," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 159-167, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Behrman, Jere R & Birdsall, Nancy, 1983. "The Quality of Schooling: Quantity Alone is Misleading," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 73(5), pages 928-46, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  19. Sandra E. Black & Elizabeth Brainerd, 1999. "Importing equality? The effects of increased competition on the gender wage gap," Staff Reports 74, Federal Reserve Bank of New York. [Downloadable!]
  20. Behrman, Jere R & Birdsall, Nancy, 1985. "The Quality of Schooling: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(5), pages 1202-05, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  21. Revenga, Ana L, 1992. "Exporting Jobs? The Impact of Import Competition on Employment and Wages in U.S. Manufacturing," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(1), pages 255-84, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  22. Birdsall, Nancy & Ross, David & Sabot, Richard, 1995. "Inequality and Growth Reconsidered: Lessons from East Asia," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 477-508, September.
  23. Rosenzweig, Mark R, 1995. "Why Are There Returns to Schooling?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(2), pages 153-58, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  24. Currie, Janet & Harrison, Ann E, 1997. "Sharing the Costs: The Impact of Trade Reform on Capital and Labor in Morocco," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 15(3), pages S44-71, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  25. Spilimbergo, Antonio & Londono, Juan Luis & Szekely, Miguel, 1999. "Income distribution, factor endowments, and trade openness," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 77-101, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, 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. Eduardo Lora, 2001. "Structural Reforms in Latin America: What Has Been Reformed and How to Measure It," RES Working Papers 4293, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Hisako KAI & Shigeyuki HAMORI, 2009. "Globalization, Financial Depth, and Inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa," Discussion Papers 0912, Graduate School of Economics, Kobe University. [Downloadable!]
  3. Lykke E. Andersen & Bent Jesper Christensen, 2006. "Labor Mobility in Bolivia: On-the-job Search Behavior of Private and Public Sector Employees," Development Research Working Paper Series 01/2006, Institute for Advanced Development Studies. [Downloadable!]
  4. Eduardo Lora, 2001. "Reformas estructurales en América Latina: qué se ha reformado y cómo cuantificarlo," RES Working Papers 4294, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  5. Peter Blair Henry & Diego Sasson, 2009. "Capital Market Integration and Wages," NBER Working Papers 15204, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Pinelopi Koujianou Goldberg & Nina Pavcnik, 2007. "Distributional Effects of Globalization in Developing Countries," NBER Working Papers 12885, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  7. Cornia, Giovanni Andrea & Kiiski, Sampsa, 2001. "Trends in Income Distribution in the Post-World War II Period Evidence and Interpretation," Working Papers UNU-WIDER Research Paper , World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  8. Carol Graham, 2008. "Measuring Quality of Life in Latin America: What Happiness Research Can (and Cannot) Contribute," RES Working Papers 4598, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? A few items listed on IDEAS are over 2000 years old!

This page was last updated on 2009-11-10.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.