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Is Entrepreneurship a Channel of Social Mobility in Latin America?

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  • Francesca Castellani
  • Eduardo Lora

Abstract

This paper summarizes the findings in this special issue of the Latin American Journal of Economics on entrepreneurship's role in upward social mobility in Latin America, especially for the middle class, often considered the cradle of entrepreneurship. The income-persistent coefficients estimated with pseudo-panel data for Colombia, Ecuador, and Uruguay indicate that entrepreneurship is a channel of intergenerational mobility, while asset persistence estimates for Mexico show that entrepreneurship increases mobility across generations. Although persistence coefficients don't indicate the direction of such mobility, estimates of income differentials between entrepreneurs and non-entrepreneurs for Ecuador and Mexico support the hypothesis that upward mobility dominates.

Suggested Citation

  • Francesca Castellani & Eduardo Lora, 2014. "Is Entrepreneurship a Channel of Social Mobility in Latin America?," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 51(2), pages 179-194, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:ioe:cuadec:v:51:y:2014:i:2:p:179-194
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    Cited by:

    1. Daniel Bukstein & Nestor Gandelman, 2014. "Intra-Generational Social Mobility and Entrepreneurship in Uruguay," Latin American Journal of Economics-formerly Cuadernos de Economía, Instituto de Economía. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile., vol. 51(2), pages 227-245, November.
    2. Guido Neidhöfer, 2019. "Intergenerational mobility and the rise and fall of inequality: Lessons from Latin America," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(4), pages 499-520, December.
    3. Wassink, Joshua, 2020. "International migration experience and entrepreneurship: Evidence from Mexico," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Latin America; entrepreneurship; social mobility; middle class;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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