Wage Inequality in Latin America: Understanding the Past to Prepare for the Future

Abstract

This work is a product of the staff of The World Bank with external contributions. The fi ndings, interpretations, and conclusions expressed in this work do not necessarily refl ect the views of The World Bank, its Board of Executive Directors, or the governments they represent. The World Bank does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this work. The boundaries, colors, denominations, and other information shown on any map in this work do not imply any judgment on the part of The World Bank concerning the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries. Nothing herein shall constitute or be considered to be a limitation upon or waiver of the privileges and immunities of The World Bank, all of which are specifi cally reserved.

Skill Premium, Labor Supply and Changes in the Structure of Wages in Latin America

“…However, a broad conclusion of previous literature is that the key contribution to inequality reduction was the decline in earnings inequality (Lopez-Calva and Lustig, 2010;Azevedo et al, 2013). Earnings inequality declined in 16 of the 17 countries in Latin America for which consistent statistics can be calculated (Messina and Silva, 2016), although the intensity and turning points diverged across countries. For example, after a decade of stagnant or slowly increasing inequality, the 90th/10th interquartile range of the labor earnings distribution declined by 20 percent in Argentina and 28 percent in Chile between 2000 and 2013.…”

Ageing Poorly? Accounting for the decline in earnings inequality in Brazil, 1995–2012

“…It is also now commonly viewed as the beginning of the commodity price super-cycle, which benefited all commodity exporting countries in Latin America, including Brazil. Messina and Silva (2017) discuss possible mechanisms through which the super-cycle may have affected the proximate drivers of earnings inequality.…”

“…Age-biased technical change à la Behaghel and Greenan (2010) is one. Another is that sharp changes in terms of trade after 2003 altered the sectoral demand for labor in Brazil (Messina and Silva, 2017). Such a process generates employment and wage opportunities for those workers who are able to move from "losing" to "gaining" sectors.…”

Cardiovascular health and dementia incidence among older adults in Latin America: Results from the 10/66 study

“…18 These CVH indices also overcome limitations of other indices such as the Framingham index as they only focus on modifiable risk factors and include different levels of severity within each factor. Given the region's history of wealth inequalities, 30 we explored whether associations differed by wealth. 21,28 However, the sample in the Framingham study was highly educated, both studies were from high-income countries (the United States and Germany), and their models did not account for competing risk of death, which may have biased associations as individuals with lower CVH have a higher mortality rate.…”

“…We accounted for mortality by using competing risk survival analysis. Given the region's history of wealth inequalities, 30 we explored whether associations differed by wealth. Determining the association between CVH and dementia among older adults in Latin America will inform dementia prevention policies and practice in these countries.…”