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Chile: The Unbearable Burden of Inequality

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  • López, Ramón
  • Miller, Sebastian J.

Abstract

Summary Chile has been cited as a successful case of development. Relatively fast economic growth over almost two decades has been accompanied by a significant reduction in absolute poverty. However, persistent economic growth and a mostly pro-poor structure of public expenditures have not been sufficient to reduce inequality in one of the most unequal countries in the world. We show that the key factors explaining this persistent inequality have been a low level of fiscal expenditures caused by low tax revenues that have not permitted enough public investment in human capital and knowledge generation and diffusion.

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  • López, Ramón & Miller, Sebastian J., 2008. "Chile: The Unbearable Burden of Inequality," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(12), pages 2679-2695, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:36:y:2008:i:12:p:2679-2695
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    Cited by:

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    2. Eduardo Borensztein & Sebastián J. Miller & Gabriel Sánchez & Patricio Valenzuela, 2014. "Development Diagnostics for the Southern Cone," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 85194, Inter-American Development Bank.
    3. Dusan Paredes, 2012. "Spatial wage disparities and the role of spatial labor sorting," Documentos de Trabajo en Economia y Ciencia Regional 28, Universidad Catolica del Norte, Chile, Department of Economics, revised Sep 2012.
    4. Dusan Paredes Araya & Tomothy M Komarek, 2013. "Spatial Income Inequality in Chile and the Rol of Spatial Labor Sorting," Documentos de Trabajo en Economia y Ciencia Regional 46, Universidad Catolica del Norte, Chile, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2013.
    5. Malte Luebker, 2015. "Redistribution policies," Chapters, in: Janine Berg (ed.), Labour Markets, Institutions and Inequality, chapter 8, pages 211-241, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Dusan Paredes, 2015. "Can Neg Explain the Spatial Distribution of Wages of Chile?," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 106(1), pages 65-77, February.
    7. Palma, José Gabriel, 2020. "Why the rich always stay rich (no matter what, no matter the cost)," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
    8. Lopez, Ramon, 2009. "Natural disasters and the dynamics of intangible assets," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4874, The World Bank.
    9. Peter Hoeller & Isabelle Joumard & Mauro Pisu & Debra Bloch, 2012. "Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are They Compatible? Part 1. Mapping Income Inequality Across the OECD," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 924, OECD Publishing.
    10. Eduardo Olaberría, 2016. "Bringing all Chileans on board," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 1289, OECD Publishing.
    11. Roberto Chavez & Wantao Yu & Muhammad Shakeel Sadiq Jajja & Antonio Lecuna & Brian Fynes, 2020. "Can entrepreneurial orientation improve sustainable development through leveraging internal lean practices?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2211-2225, September.
    12. Bronfman, Javier & Floro, Maria, 2014. "How well has the Social Protection Scheme Reduced Vulnerability in Chile?," MPRA Paper 63255, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Contreras, Dante & González, Luis & Láscar, Samuel & López, Verónica, 2022. "Negative teacher–student and student–student relationships are associated with school dropout: Evidence from a large-scale longitudinal study in Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    14. Rivas, Ricardo, 2019. "Inherited and social factors explaining early skills inequality: the case of Chilean children," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    15. Susana Katherine Chacón Espejo & Dusan Paredes Araya, 2013. "Income Inequality in Chile and the Rol of Spatial Labor Sorting," Documentos de Trabajo en Economia y Ciencia Regional 46, Universidad Catolica del Norte, Chile, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2013.
    16. Susana Katherine Chacón Espejo & Dusan Paredes Araya, 2013. "Spatial Income Inequality in Chile and the Rol of Spatial Labor Sorting," Documentos de Trabajo en Economia y Ciencia Regional 46, Universidad Catolica del Norte, Chile, Department of Economics, revised Apr 2013.
    17. Andrés Solimano, 2009. "Three Decades of Neoliberal Economics in Chile: Achievements, Failures and Dilemmas," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2009-37, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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