Declining Inequality in Latin America in the 2000s: The Cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico

Nora Lustig, Luis Lopez-Calva and Eduardo Ortiz-Juarez

No 1218, Working Papers from Tulane University, Department of Economics

Abstract: Between 2000 and 2010, the Gini coefficient declined in 13 of 17 Latin American countries. The decline was statistically significant and robust to changes in the time interval, inequality measures and data sources. In depth country studies for Argentina, Brazil and Mexico suggest two main phenomena underlie this trend: a fall in the premium to skilled labor and more progressive government transfers. The fall in the premium to skills resulted from a combination of supply, demand, and institutional factors. Their relative importance depends on the country.

Keywords: Income inequality; skill premium; government transfers; progressivity; Latin America (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 H53 I24 O15 O54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 26 pages
Date: 2012-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dev and nep-lam
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (36)

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http://repec.tulane.edu/RePEc/pdf/tul1218.pdf First Version, September 2012 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Declining Inequality in Latin America in the 2000s: The Cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico (2013)
Working Paper: Declining Inequality in Latin America in the 2000s: The Cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico (2012)
Working Paper: Declining Inequality in Latin America in the 2000s: the Cases of Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico (2012)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tul:wpaper:1218

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