Wage Inequality in Latin America

Wage Inequality in Latin America PDF Author: Julián Messina
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464810400
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 292

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Book Description
What caused the decline in wage inequality of the 2000s in Latin America? Looking to the future, will the current economic slowdown be regressive? Wage Inequality in Latin America: Understanding the Past to Prepare for the Future addresses these two questions by reviewing relevant literature and providing new evidence on what we know from the conceptual, empirical, and policy perspectives.The answer to the fi rst question can be broken down into several parts, although the bottom line is that the changes in wage inequality resulted from a combination of three forces: (a) education expansion and its eff ect on falling returns to skill (the supply-side story); (b) shifts in aggregate domestic demand; and (c) exchange rate appreciation from the commodity boom and the associated shift to the nontradable sector that changed interfi rm wage diff erences. Other forces had a non-negligible but secondary role in some countries, while they were not present in others. These include the rapid increase of the minimum wage and a rapid trend toward formalization of employment, which played a supporting role but only during the boom.Understanding the forces behind recent trends also helps to shed light on the second question. The analysis in this volume suggests that theeconomic slowdown is putting the brakes on the reduction of inequality in Latin America and will likely continue to do so—but it might not actuallyreverse the region’s movement toward less wage inequality.

Wage Inequality in Latin America

Wage Inequality in Latin America PDF Author: Julián Messina
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN: 1464810400
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Get Book Here

Book Description
What caused the decline in wage inequality of the 2000s in Latin America? Looking to the future, will the current economic slowdown be regressive? Wage Inequality in Latin America: Understanding the Past to Prepare for the Future addresses these two questions by reviewing relevant literature and providing new evidence on what we know from the conceptual, empirical, and policy perspectives.The answer to the fi rst question can be broken down into several parts, although the bottom line is that the changes in wage inequality resulted from a combination of three forces: (a) education expansion and its eff ect on falling returns to skill (the supply-side story); (b) shifts in aggregate domestic demand; and (c) exchange rate appreciation from the commodity boom and the associated shift to the nontradable sector that changed interfi rm wage diff erences. Other forces had a non-negligible but secondary role in some countries, while they were not present in others. These include the rapid increase of the minimum wage and a rapid trend toward formalization of employment, which played a supporting role but only during the boom.Understanding the forces behind recent trends also helps to shed light on the second question. The analysis in this volume suggests that theeconomic slowdown is putting the brakes on the reduction of inequality in Latin America and will likely continue to do so—but it might not actuallyreverse the region’s movement toward less wage inequality.

Law and Employment

Law and Employment PDF Author: James J. Heckman
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 0226322858
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 585

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Book Description
Law and Employment analyzes the effects of regulation and deregulation on Latin American labor markets and presents empirically grounded studies of the costs of regulation. Numerous labor regulations that were introduced or reformed in Latin America in the past thirty years have had important economic consequences. Nobel Prize-winning economist James J. Heckman and Carmen Pagés document the behavior of firms attempting to stay in business and be competitive while facing the high costs of complying with these labor laws. They challenge the prevailing view that labor market regulations affect only the distribution of labor incomes and have little or no impact on efficiency or the performance of labor markets. Using new micro-evidence, this volume shows that labor regulations reduce labor market turnover rates and flexibility, promote inequality, and discriminate against marginal workers. Along with in-depth studies of Colombia, Peru, Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Jamaica, and Trinidad, Law and Employment provides comparative analysis of Latin American economies against a range of European countries and the United States. The book breaks new ground by quantifying not only the cost of regulation in Latin America, the Caribbean, and in the OECD, but also the broader impact of this regulation.

Minimum Wages in Latin America

Minimum Wages in Latin America PDF Author: International Labour Office
Publisher: Hassell Street Press
ISBN: 9781014175090
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. To ensure a quality reading experience, this work has been proofread and republished using a format that seamlessly blends the original graphical elements with text in an easy-to-read typeface. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

Falling Inequality in Latin America

Falling Inequality in Latin America PDF Author: Giovanni Andrea Cornia
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0198701802
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 402

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Book Description
This volume documents and explains the reduction of income inequality that has taken place in the majority of Latin American countries over the last decade.

Do Minimum Wages in Latin America and the Caribbean Matter?

Do Minimum Wages in Latin America and the Caribbean Matter? PDF Author: Nicolai Kristensen
Publisher: World Bank Publications
ISBN:
Category : Income distribution
Languages : en
Pages : 49

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Book Description
"Despite the existence of minimum wage legislation in most Latin American countries, there is little empirical evidence demonstrating its impact on the distribution of wages. In this study the authors analyze cross-country data for 19 Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries to gain an understanding of if and how minimum wages affect wage distributions in LAC countries. Although there is no single minimum wage institution in the LAC region, the authors find regional trends. Minimum wages affect the wage distribution in both the formal and, especially, the informal sector, both at the minimum wage and at multiples of the minimum. The minimum does not uniformly benefit low-wage workers: in countries where the minimum wage is relatively low compared to mean wages, the minimum wage affects the more disadvantaged segments of the labor force, namely informal sector workers, women, young and older workers, and the low skilled, but in countries where the minimum wage is relatively high compared to the wage distribution, it primarily affects wages of the high skilled. This indicates that the minimum does not generally lift the wages of all, but instead, it offers a wage into which employers can "lock in" wages that are already near that level. Thus, minimum wage legislation is more far-reaching than originally thought, affecting both the uncovered informal sector and those earning above the minimum. In addition, the relative level of the minimum wage is important for determining whose wages are affected. "--World Bank web site.

Measuring the Impact of Minimum Wages

Measuring the Impact of Minimum Wages PDF Author: William Francis Maloney
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Desempleo
Languages : en
Pages : 32

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Book Description
Simple numerical measures of the minimum wage may offer deceptive indicators of its impact. Alternative measures, such as kernel density or cumulative distribution plots, are more reliable, and highlight influences higher in the wage distribution or on the informal sector. Panel employment data from Colombia, where minimum wages seem high and binding, show that the minimum wage can have important impacts on wages and unemployment across the wage distribution.

Commodity Cycles, Inequality, and Poverty in Latin America

Commodity Cycles, Inequality, and Poverty in Latin America PDF Author: Mr. Ravi Balakrishnan
Publisher: International Monetary Fund
ISBN: 1484326091
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 123

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Book Description
Over the past decades, inequality has risen not just in advanced economies but also in many emerging market and developing economies, becoming one of the key global policy challenges. And throughout the 20th century, Latin America was associated with some of the world’s highest levels of inequality. Yet something interesting happened in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. Latin America was the only region in the World to have experienced significant declines in inequality in that period. Poverty also fell in Latin America, although this was replicated in other regions, and Latin America started from a relatively low base. Starting around 2014, however, and even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, poverty and inequality gains had already slowed in Latin America and, in some cases, gone into reverse. And the COVID-19 shock, which is still playing out, is likely to dramatically worsen short-term poverty and inequality dynamics. Against this background, this departmental paper investigates the link between commodity prices, and poverty and inequality developments in Latin America.

Better Pensions, Better Jobs

Better Pensions, Better Jobs PDF Author: Mariano Bosch
Publisher: Inter-American Development Bank
ISBN: 1597821780
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
The Latin America and Caribbean (LAC) region has reduced its inequality and poverty, and is looking towards the future with greater optimism than in the past. As the region grows, new problems appear that economic policymakers must address. How to provide adequate pensions for the elderly is one such problem. This book offers an analysis of pension systems from the perspective of the functioning of the regions labor markets. It clarifies why, more than half a century after pension systems were created, only a minority of workers in the region save for their pension in the contributory systems through payroll taxes. The study points out that the problem lies not only in the lack of coverage, but also in the low level of benefits, even of contributory pensions. It argues that to design public policies for pensions, it is essential to understand the complex web of interactions between employers and workers that take place in the labor market.

Has Latin American Inequality Changed Direction?

Has Latin American Inequality Changed Direction? PDF Author: Luis Bértola
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319446215
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 419

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Book Description
This book is open access under a CC BY 4.0 license. This book brings together a range of ideas and theories to arrive at a deeper understanding of inequality in Latin America and its complex realities. To so, it addresses questions such as: What are the origins of inequality in Latin America? How can we create societies that are more equal in terms of income distribution, gender equality and opportunities? How can we remedy the social divide that is making Latin America one of the most unequal regions on earth? What are the roles played by market forces, institutions and ideology in terms of inequality? In this book, a group of global experts gathered by the Institute for the Integration of Latin America and the Caribbean (INTAL), part of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), show readers how various types of inequality, such as economical, educational, racial and gender inequality have been practiced in countries like Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Mexico and many others through the centuries. Presenting new ideas, new evidence, and new methods, the book subsequently analyzes how to move forward with second-generation reforms that lay the foundations for more egalitarian societies. As such, it offers a valuable and insightful guide for development economists, historians and Latin American specialists alike, as well as students, educators, policymakers and all citizens with an interest in development, inequality and the Latin American region.

Crony Capitalism and Economic Growth in Latin America

Crony Capitalism and Economic Growth in Latin America PDF Author: Stephen Haber
Publisher: Hoover Institution Press
ISBN: 0817999663
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
Crony capitalism systems—in which those close to political policymakers receive favors allowing them to earn returns far above market value—are a fundamental feature of the economies of Latin America. Haber and his expert contributors draw from case studies in Mexico, Brazil, and other countries around the world to examine the causes and consequences of cronyism.