Latin America's inequality changes under different political regimes

Giovanni Andrea Cornia

Chapter 5 in Economic Development, Economic Growth and Income Distribution, 2025, pp 86-105 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: The chapter takes as its point of departure what the author considers to be the view of most analysts of the Latin American economy: the persistence of high income and wealth inequality is unavoidable in the region due to the lingering effects of colonial policies, the continued structural dependence on primary commodities, and the emergence of a modernized version of the traditional elites. It challenges this view on political economy grounds. It argues that the changes observed over the last 150 years in the political orientation of governments affected the nature of economic and social policies that, in their turn, influenced the level of income inequality, both upward and downward. In other words, the evolution of inequality has depended to a considerable extent on ideological and political changes that need to be fully understood. It then explores this circular relation between “political orientation” of governments and “inequality,” and between “endogenous changes in economic/social conditions” and “changes in the political orientation of governments.”

Keywords: Inequality; Income distribution; Latin America; Political regimes; Redistributive reforms (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781803929903
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