IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/mes/ijpoec/v44y2015i2p121-141.html

Connecting Patterns of Technical Change and Income Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Luis Villanueva

Abstract

This paper studies the empirical relationship between patterns of technical change and income inequality from historical and political economy perspectives. Growth distribution schedules are constructed to determine the type of technical change undergone in a sample of Latin American countries from 1963 to 2008. Such patterns of technical change can be grouped into redistributive and nonredistributive. The expected theoretical relation under redistributive patterns of technical change is that income inequality should decrease when this type of pattern emerges. The study empirically verifies that this relationship emerges in several periods, but this outcome is only one of the possible results of the complex interaction between patterns of technical change and historical economic and political events. Combining our study of patterns of technical change with economic history reveals that the role of political and economic coalitions needs to be incorporated to understand the complex forces that determine changes in income distribution. The study concludes with provisions of a framework for understanding changes in income distribution during different episodes in our period of analysis, ranging from the era of military dictatorship to the most recent period. We highlight some policy implications that can be drawn from this framework.

Suggested Citation

  • Luis Villanueva, 2015. "Connecting Patterns of Technical Change and Income Inequality," International Journal of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 121-141, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:mes:ijpoec:v:44:y:2015:i:2:p:121-141
    DOI: 10.1080/08911916.2015.1060829
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/08911916.2015.1060829
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/08911916.2015.1060829?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Morley, Samuel A., 2001. "The income distribution problem in Latin America and the Caribbean," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 2274 edited by Eclac.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Carlyn Dobson & Antonio Rodríguez, 2010. "Is Corruption Really Bad for Inequality? Evidence from Latin America," Development Research Working Paper Series 02/2010, Institute for Advanced Development Studies.
    2. -, 2000. "Equity, development and citizenship," Documentos de posición del período de sesiones de la Comisión 14969, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    3. Assunção, Juliano & Verhoogen, Eric, 2007. "Comments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123277, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    4. Jos� Antonio Ocampo & Juliana Vallejo, 2012. "Economic Growth, Equity and Human Development in Latin America," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 107-133, February.
    5. -, 2002. "CEPAL Review no.77," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
    6. repec:ecr:col031:4965 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. José Antonio Ocampo, 2004. "Latin America's Growth and Equity Frustrations During Structural Reforms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 18(2), pages 67-88, Spring.
    8. Teichman, Judith, 2008. "Redistributive Conflict and Social Policy in Latin America," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 446-460, March.
    9. -, 2001. "Equity, development and citizenship: abridged edition," Libros de la CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 2279 edited by Eclac.
    10. Filiz Garip, 2012. "Repeat Migration and Remittances as Mechanisms for Wealth Inequality in 119 Communities From the Mexican Migration Project Data," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 49(4), pages 1335-1360, November.
    11. Vos, R.P. & Ganuza, E. & Morley, S. & Robinson, S. & Pineiro, V., 2004. "Are export promotion and trade liberalization good for Latin America's poor? : a comparative macro-micro CGE analysis," ISS Working Papers - General Series 19158, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    12. Jansen, Hans G.P. & Siegel, Paul B. & Pichon, Francisco, 2005. "Identifying the Drivers of Sustainable Rural Growth and Poverty Reduction in Honduras," DSGD Discussion Papers 58378, CGIAR, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    13. Antonio Andres & Carlyn Ramlogan-Dobson, 2011. "Is Corruption Really Bad for Inequality? Evidence from Latin America," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(7), pages 959-976.
    14. Nancy Birdsall, 2006. "Stormy Days on an Open Field: Asymmetries in the Global Economy," Working Papers 81, Center for Global Development.
    15. -, 2003. "Foreign Investment in Latin America and the Caribbean 2002," La Inversión Extranjera Directa en América Latina y el Caribe, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), number 1125 edited by Eclac.
    16. Manuel Fern√°ndez & Gabriela Serrano, 2022. "New Perspectives on Inequality in Latin America," Documentos CEDE 20295, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    17. Veronica Amarante, 2014. "Revisiting Inequality and Growth: Evidence for Developing Countries," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 45(4), pages 571-589, December.
    18. Leonardo Gasparini & Guillermo Cruces & Leopoldo Tornarolli & Mariana Marchionni, 2009. "A Turning Point? Recent Developments on Inequality in Latin America and the Caribbean," CEDLAS, Working Papers 0081, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    19. Mejía, Daniel & Ortega, Daniel E., 2011. "Comments," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123192, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Atsushi Fukumi & Shoji Nishijima, 2010. "Institutional quality and foreign direct investment in Latin America and the Caribbean," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(14), pages 1857-1864.
    21. Nancy Birdsall & Nora Lustig & Darryl McLeod, 2011. "Declining inequality in Latin America: Some economics, some politics," Working Papers 201, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:mes:ijpoec:v:44:y:2015:i:2:p:121-141. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/MIJP20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.