Human Capital Constraints, Spatial Dependence, and Regionalization in Bolivia: A Spatial Clustering Approach

Using a novel dataset, this article studies the spatial distribution of human capital constraintsacross 339 municipalities in Bolivia. In particular, five human capital constraints are evaluated:chronic malnutrition in children, non-Spanish speaking population, secondary dropout rate ofmales, secondary dropout rates of females, and inequality in years of education. Through the lensof principal components, spatial dependence, and regionalization methods, the municipalities areendogenously classified according to their similarity in human capital constraints and geographicallocation. Results from the spatial dependence analysis indicate the specific location of significanthot spots (high-value clusters) and cold spots (low-value clusters). A regionalization analysis ofthe constraints indicates that Bolivia can be regionalized into seven or eight geographical regions.The article concludes discussing the potential complementary of these two analyses and theirusefulness in identifying the location of policy priorities.