Economic convergence, intragenerational economic mobility, and inequality in a native Amazonian small-scale society of Indigenous People in Bolivia

Adult intragenerational mobility reflects society’s ability to reward effort and tame society-wide inequality. In developed economies, mobility is modest and correlates negatively with economic inequality. Little is known quantitatively from direct observations about long-term intragenerational mobility in small-scale societies of the Global South. To assess the external validity of findings about patterns of intragenerational mobility from developed economies, we use a yearly survey panel dataset (2002–2010) of adults from a society of native Amazonians (Tsimane’) in Bolivia practicing farming, fishing, hunting, and plant gathering. We estimate (a) convergence rates (or the speed of catch up) of adults in the bottom quintile to the rest of the population sample, (b) mobility defined as the change in quintile rank in economic outcomes between 2002 and 2010, and (c) the associations of economic mobility in rank between 2002 and 2010 with society-wide economic inequality in 2010, measured with the Gini coefficient. Outcomes included flows (income, barter) and wealth measured with the value of livestock, locally produced goods, and commercial goods. We found unambiguous evidence of convergence (those at the bottom were fast approaching the rest) and considerable evidence of both upward and downward mobility among women and men across all outcomes. Mobility and economic inequality correlated negatively. We did not observe the modest economic mobility typical of developed economies, but we found pockets of immobility at the top and an inverse relation between upward mobility and inequality.