Low Social Mobility in Bolivia: Causes and Consequences for Development

Arbeitspapier

This paper investigates social mobility in Bolivia and discusses its implications for poverty reduction and long-run growth. Regressions based on household survey data show that social mobility is very low in Bolivia, even by Latin American standards. This is mainly caused by an inadequate public education system, a high degree of assortative mating, and insufficient rural-urban migration. As a consequence, poverty tends to be fairly persistent over time. Moreover, low social mobility implies an inefficient use of innate talent and poor incentives for work and study. This prevents the Bolivian economy from reaching its potential growth rates. The paper provides several recommendations for policies to increase social mobility, thereby reducing poverty and increasing long-run growth.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: Kiel Working Paper ; No. 1046

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Measurement and Analysis of Poverty ; Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook: General ; Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
• Subject: Social Mobility ; Economic Growth ; Public Policy ; Bolivia ; Soziale Mobilität ; Armut ; Bildungswesen ; Familienökonomik ; Sozialer Status ; Urbanisierung ; Wirtschaftswachstum ; Schätzung ; Bolivien

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Andersen, Lykke E.
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Kiel Institute of World Economics (IfW)
• (where): Kiel
• (when): 2001

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/17723
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET