Declining inequality in Latin America: a decade of progress?

TLDR

Latin America has long been noted for its high and persistent income inequality. The book seeks to explain the recent decline in inequality across the region. A panel of economists conducts in‑depth case studies of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru, and provides overviews of market‑inequality dynamics, redistribution politics, and global inequality trends. The decline is largely due to a narrowing wage gap between skilled and low‑skilled workers and expanded targeted government transfers, positioning the book as a likely standard reference.

Abstract

Latin America is often singled out for its high and persistent income inequality. Toward the end of the 1990s, however, income concentration began to fall across the region. Of the seventeen countries for which comparable data are available, twelve have experienced a decline, particularly since 2000. This book is among the first efforts to understand what happened in these countries and why. Led by editors Felipe Li?½pez-Calva and Nora Lustig, a panel of distinguished economists undertakes in-depth analyses of Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Peru. In addition, they provide essential background in the form of overviews of the relationship between markets and inequality, the political economy of redistribution, and the evolution of income inequality in the advanced industrialized economies. Two factors account for much of the decline in inequality: a decrease in the wage gap between skilled and low-skilled labor, and an increase in government transfers targeted to the poor. Thanks to the timeliness and sophistication of these essays, Declining Inequality in Latin America is likely to become a standard reference in its field.