Globalization and the Role of Public Transfers in Redistributing Income in Latin America and the Caribbean

Emmanuel Skoufias, Kathy Lindert and Joseph Shapiro

No RP2009-02, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: This paper focuses on measuring the extent to which publicly subsidized transfers in Latin America and the Caribbean redistribute income. The redistributive power of 56 transfers in eight countries is measured by their simulated impacts on poverty and inequality, and by their distributional characteristic. Our findings suggest that public transfers can be effective instruments to redistribute income to the poor. Yet frequently they have not managed to do so. The redistributive impacts from social insurance are limited-and even regressive in some countries.

Keywords: Equality and inequality; Income distribution; Insurance; Poverty; Public welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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Journal Article: Globalization and the Role of Public Transfers in Redistributing Income in Latin America and the Caribbean (2010)
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