IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/4591.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Earnings inequality within and across gender, racial, and ethnic groups in four Latin American Countries

Author

Listed:
  • Cunningham, Wendy
  • Jacobsen, Joyce P.

Abstract

Latin American countries are generally characterized as displaying highincome and earnings inequality overall along with high inequality by gender, race, and ethnicity. However, the latter phenomenon is not a major contributor to the former phenomenon. Using household survey data from four Latin American countries (Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, and Guyana) for which stratification by race or ethnicity is possible, this paper demonstrates (using Theil index decompositions as well as Gini indices, and 90/10 and 50/10 percentile comparisons) that within-group earnings inequality rather than between-group earnings inequality is the main contributor to overall earnings inequality. Simulations in which the relatively disadvantaged gender and/or racial/ethnic group is treated as if it were the relatively advantaged group tend to reduce overall earnings inequality measures only slightly and in some cases have the effect of increasing earnings inequality measures.

Suggested Citation

  • Cunningham, Wendy & Jacobsen, Joyce P., 2008. "Earnings inequality within and across gender, racial, and ethnic groups in four Latin American Countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4591, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:4591
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2008/04/14/000158349_20080414144634/Rendered/PDF/wps4591.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. François Bourguignon & Amedeo Spadaro, 2006. "Microsimulation as a tool for evaluating redistribution policies," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 4(1), pages 77-106, April.
    2. Bando, Rosangela & Lopez-Calva, Luis F. & Patrinos, Harry Anthony, 2005. "Child labor, school attendance, and indigenous households : evidence from Mexico," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3487, The World Bank.
    3. Jere R. Behrman & Alejandro Gaviria & Miguel Székely, 2001. "Intergenerational Mobility in Latin America," ECONOMIA JOURNAL OF THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION, ECONOMIA JOURNAL OF THE LATIN AMERICAN AND CARIBBEAN ECONOMIC ASSOCIATION, vol. 0(Fall 2001), pages 1-44, August.
    4. José A. Pagán, 2002. "Gender Differences in Labor Market Decisions in Rural Guatemala," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 428-441, October.
    5. Tzannatos, Zafiris, 1999. "Women and Labor Market Changes in the Global Economy: Growth Helps, Inequalities Hurt and Public Policy Matters," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 551-569, March.
    6. Woden, Q.T. & Ayres, W. & Barenstein, M. & Hicks, N. & Lee, K. & Maloney, W. & Peeters, P. & Siaens, C. & Yitzjaki, S., 2000. "Poverty and Policy in Latin America and Caribeean," Papers 467, World Bank - Technical Papers.
    7. Leonardo Gasparini & Mariana Marchionni & Walter Sosa Escudero, 2000. "Characterization of inequality changes through microeconometric decompositions. The case of Greater Buenos Aires," IIE, Working Papers 025, IIE, Universidad Nacional de La Plata.
    8. Psacharopoulos, George & Velez, Eduardo & Patrinos, Harry Anthony, 1994. "Education and earnings in Paraguay," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 321-327.
    9. William Maloney & Jairo Mendez, 2004. "Measuring the Impact of Minimum Wages. Evidence from Latin America," NBER Chapters, in: Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean, pages 109-130, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    10. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 10(3), pages 565-591, September.
    11. Fran??ois Bourguignon & Francisco H. G. Ferreira & Phillippe G. Leite, 2002. "Beyond Oaxaca-Blinder: Accounting for Differences in Household Income Distributions Across Countries," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 478, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    12. Leonardo Gasparini & Federico Gutiérrez & Leopoldo Tornarolli, 2007. "Growth And Income Poverty In Latin America And The Caribbean: Evidence From Household Surveys," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 53(2), pages 209-245, June.
    13. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 10(3), pages 565-591, September.
    14. Carlos A.Arango & Angélica Pachón, 2004. "Minimum Wages in Colombia: Holding the Middle With a Bite on the Poor," Borradores de Economia 280, Banco de la Republica de Colombia.
    15. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    16. Psacharopoulos, George & Tzannatos, Zafiris, 1992. "Latin American women's earnings and participation in the labor force," Policy Research Working Paper Series 856, The World Bank.
    17. James J. Heckman & Carmen Pagés, 2004. "Law and Employment: Lessons from Latin America and the Caribbean," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number heck04-1, July.
    18. Kristensen, Nicolai & Cunningham, Wendy, 2006. "Do minimum wages in Latin America and the Caribbean matter ? Evidence from 19 countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3870, The World Bank.
    19. Jere R. Behrman & Alejandro Gaviria & Miguel Székely, 2001. "Intergenerational Mobility in Latin America," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Fall 2001), pages 1-44, August.
    20. Saavedra,Luz A., 2001. "Female wage inequality in Latin American labor markets," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2741, The World Bank.
    21. Gillette Hall & Harry Anthony Patrinos (ed.), 2006. "Indigenous Peoples, Poverty and Human Development in Latin America," Palgrave Macmillan Books, Palgrave Macmillan, number 978-0-230-37722-6, September.
    22. George Psacharopoulos & Harry Anthony Patrinos, 1997. "Family size, schooling and child labor in Peru - An empirical analysis," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 10(4), pages 387-405.
    23. Patrinos, Harry Anthony, 1997. "Differences in education and earnings across ethnic groups in Guatemala," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 809-821.
    24. Cesar Patricio Bouillon & Arianna Legovini & Nora Lustig, 2003. "Rising Inequality in Mexico: Household Characteristics and Regional Effects," Journal of Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 39(4), pages 112-133.
    25. Patrinos, Harry Anthony & Skoufias, Emmanuel & Lunde, Trine, 2007. "Indigenous peoples in Latin America : economic opportunities and social networks," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4227, The World Bank.
    26. Arias, Omar & Blom, Andreas & Bosch, Mariano & Cunningham, Wendy & Fiszbein, Ariel & Lopez Acevedo, Gladys & Maloney, William & Saavedra, Jaime & Sanchez-Paramo, Carolina & Santamaria, Mauricio & Siga, 2005. "Pending issues in protection, productivity growth, and poverty reduction," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3799, The World Bank.
    27. Garcia-Aracil, Adela & Winter, Carolyn, 2006. "Gender and ethnicity differentials in school attainment and labor market earnings in Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(2), pages 289-307, February.
    28. Pagan, Jose A, 2002. "Gender Differences in Labor Market Decisions in Rural Guatemala," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(3), pages 428-441, October.
    29. Carlos Arango & Angélica Pachón, 2004. "Minimum Wages in Colombia: Holding the Middle with a Bite," Borradores de Economia 3224, Banco de la Republica.
    30. Schady, Norbert & Araujo, Maria Caridad, 2006. "Cash transfers, conditions, school enrollment, and child work : evidence from a randomized experiment in Ecuador," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3930, The World Bank.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Carla Canelas & Rachel M. Gisselquist, 2018. "Human capital, labour market outcomes, and horizontal inequality in Guatemala," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 46(3), pages 378-397, July.
    2. Carlos Gradín, 2016. "Race, Ethnicity, Immigration, and Living Conditions in Costa Rica," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62(S1), pages 90-119, August.
    3. Luisa Fernanda Gamboa & Andrés García-Suaza & Jesús Otero, 2010. "Statistical Inference for Testing Gini Coefficients: An Application for Colombia," Revista ESPE - Ensayos sobre Política Económica, Banco de la Republica de Colombia, vol. 28(62), pages 226-238, June.
    4. Carla Canelas & Rachel M. Gisselquist, 2017. "Human capital, labour market outcomes, and horizontal inequality in Guatemala," WIDER Working Paper Series 091, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. World Bank, 2012. "A Gender (R)evolution in the Making? Expanding Women's Economic Opportunities in Central America : A Decade in Review," World Bank Publications - Reports 12468, The World Bank Group.

    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. Atal, Juan Pablo & Ñopo, Hugo R. & Winder, Natalia, 2009. "New Century, Old Disparities: Gender and Ethnic Wage Gaps in Latin America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 1131, Inter-American Development Bank.
    2. Gindling, T.H. & Terrell, Katherine, 2010. "Minimum Wages, Globalization, and Poverty in Honduras," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 908-918, June.
    3. Betcherman, Gordon, 2014. "Labor market regulations : what do we know about their impacts in developing countries ?," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6819, The World Bank.
    4. Pandelis Mitsis, 2019. "The Impact of the Minimum Wage on Wages and Work in Cyprus," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 13(2), pages 72-101, December.
    5. Alaniz, Enrique & Gindling, T.H. & Terrell, Katherine, 2011. "The impact of minimum wages on wages, work and poverty in Nicaragua," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(S1), pages 45-59.
    6. Ayal Kimhi, 2004. "Growth, Inequality and Labor Markets in LDCs: A Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 1281, CESifo.
    7. Jeong, Hyeok, 2008. "Assessment Of Relationship Between Growth And Inequality: Micro Evidence From Thailand," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 12(S2), pages 155-197, September.
    8. Richard B. Freeman, 2009. "Labor Regulations, Unions, and Social Protection in Developing Countries: Market distortions or Efficient Institutions?," NBER Working Papers 14789, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Bourguignon, François, 2001. "The distributional effects of growth: micro vs. macro approaches," Sede de la CEPAL en Santiago (Estudios e Investigaciones) 34859, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    10. Wong, Sara A., 2019. "Minimum wage impacts on wages and hours worked of low-income workers in Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 77-99.
    11. David KUCERA & Leanne RONCOLATO, 2008. "Informal employment: Two contested policy issues," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 147(4), pages 321-348, December.
    12. Nancy Birdsall, 2008. "Income Distribution: Effects on Growth and Development," Chapters, in: Amitava Krishna Dutt & Jaime Ros (ed.), International Handbook of Development Economics, Volumes 1 & 2, volume 0, chapter 48, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    13. Adriana Kugler & Maurice Kugler, 2009. "Labor Market Effects of Payroll Taxes in Developing Countries: Evidence from Colombia," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 57(2), pages 335-358, January.
    14. Fernando Borraz & Nicolás González, 2009. "Minimum Wage: Empirical evidence for Uruguay," Documentos de trabajo 2009003, Banco Central del Uruguay.
    15. Hugo Nopo & Natalia Winder, 2008. "Ethnicity and Human Capital Accumulation in Urban Mexico," Research Department Publications 4619, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
    16. César Calderón & Alberto Chong & Rodrigo O. Valdés, 2005. "Labor Market Regulations and Income Inequality: Evidence for a Panel of Countries," Central Banking, Analysis, and Economic Policies Book Series, in: Jorge Restrepo & Andrea Tokman R. & Norman Loayza (Series Editor) & Klaus Schmidt-Hebbel (Series Edi (ed.),Labor Markets and Institutions, edition 1, volume 8, chapter 7, pages 221-279, Central Bank of Chile.
    17. Valentina Calderón & Ana María Ibáñez, 2005. "Labor Market Effects of Migration-Related Supply Shocks: Evidence from Internally Displaced Populations in Colombia," Documentos CEDE 5851, Universidad de los Andes, Facultad de Economía, CEDE.
    18. Bourguignon Francois, 2009. "Crime as a Social Cost of Poverty and Inequality: A Review Focusing on Developing countries," Revista Desarrollo y Sociedad, Universidad de los Andes,Facultad de Economía, CEDE, September.
    19. Leonardo Gasparini, 2003. "Argentina's Distributional Failure: The Role of Integration and Public Policy," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 42798, Inter-American Development Bank.
    20. Belser, Patrick. & Rani, Uma., 2010. "Extending the coverage of minimum wages in India : simulations from household data," ILO Working Papers 994584553402676, International Labour Organization.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Access to Finance; Gender and Development; Inequality; Gender and Law;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:wbk:wbrwps:4591. 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: Roula I. Yazigi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/dvewbus.html .

    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.