Is there such thing as middle class values ? Class differences, values and political orientations in Latin America
Abstract
Middle class values have long been perceived as drivers of social cohesion and growth. This paper investigates the relation between class (measured by position in the income distribution), values, and political orientations using comparable values surveys for six Latin American countries. The analysis finds that both a continuous measure of income and categorical measures of income-based class are robustly associated with values. Both income and class tend to display a similar association to values and political orientations as education, although differences persist in some important dimensions. Overall, there is no strong evidence of any"middle class particularism": values appear to gradually shift with income, and middle class values are between the ones of poorer and richer classes. If any, the only peculiarity of middle class values is moderation. The analysis also finds changes in values across countries to be of much larger magnitude than the ones dictated by income, education, and individual characteristics, suggesting that individual values vary primarily within bounds dictated by each society.Download Info
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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 5874.Length:
Date of creation: 01 Nov 2011
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:5874
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Related research
Keywords: Inequality; Economic Theory&Research; Social Inclusion&Institutions; Labor Policies; Access&Equity in Basic Education;Other versions of this item:
- López-Calva, Luis-Felipe & Rigolini, Jamele & Torche, Florencia, 2012. "Is There Such Thing as Middle Class Values? Class Differences, Values and Political Orientations in Latin America," IZA Discussion Papers 6292, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
- D7 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making
- O1 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development
- Z1 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
- NEP-ALL-2011-11-14 (All new papers)
- NEP-LAM-2011-11-14 (Central & South America)
- NEP-LTV-2011-11-14 (Unemployment, Inequality & Poverty)
- NEP-POL-2011-11-14 (Positive Political Economics)
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As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:- Is There Such Thing as Middle Class Values? Class Differences, Values and Political Orientations in Latin America
by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2012-02-24 14:40:03 - Is There Such Thing as Middle Class Values? Class Differences, Values and Political Orientations in Latin America
by Maximo Rossi in Wikiprogress América Latina on 2012-02-24 14:24:00 - Is There Such Thing as Middle Class Values? Class Differences, Values and Political Orientations in Latin America
by maximorossi in NEP-LTV blog on 2012-02-24 14:40:03
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