Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/299434 
Year of Publication: 
2023
Series/Report no.: 
IDB Working Paper Series No. IDB-WP-01492
Publisher: 
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), Washington, DC
Abstract: 
How deep are the roots of Latin America's economic inequalities? In this chapter we survey both the history and the literature about the region's extreme economic disparities, focusing on the most recent academic contributions. We begin by documenting the broad patterns of national and sub-national differences in income and inequality, building on the seminal contributions of Engerman and Sokoloff (2000; 2002, 2005) and aiming to capture different dimensions of inequality. We then proceed thematically, providing empirical evidence and summarizing the key recent studies on colonial institutions, slavery, land reform, education and the role of elites. Finally, we conduct a "replication" exercise with some seminal papers in the literature, extending their economic results to include different measures of inequality as outcomes.
Subjects: 
Inequality
Latin America
History
Colonization
Persistence
Slavery
Land Reform
Education
Elites
JEL: 
D02
D63
I24
N10
N16
O43
Q15
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.