Income Inequality in Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador: Different Reasons

Arbeitspapier

This paper analyzes the individual-level determinants of wage inequality for Bolivia, Colombia, and Ecuador from 2001 to 2010. Using a rich annual data set from surveys in all three countries, we analyze wages both using conventional wage regressions and decompositions of standard Gini indices. Although popular opinion and standard Gini indices suggest Colombia to exhibit the most unequal distribution of income among these countries, our results suggest otherwise. If one assumes educational attainment to form part of one's own responsibility the Colombian income distribution appears more equal than Bolivia's or Ecuador's. In 2010, educational achievement explains over 10.9 percent of the Gini score in Colombia, 6.3 percent in Ecuador, and a mere 2.4 percent in Bolivia. Our findings show that the sources of income inequality can differ substantially across countries. Respective policy prescriptions should differ accordingly.

Angaben zum Objekt

• Sprache: Englisch

Verweise und Beziehungen

• Erschienen in: Series: IZA Discussion Papers ; No. 9210

Klassifikation und Themen

• Klassifikation: Wirtschaft ; Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions ; Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement ; Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
• Thema: income inequality ; Gini coefficient ; unfair inequality

Beteiligte, Orts- und Zeitangaben

• Ereignis: Geistige Schöpfung
• (wer): Aristizábal-Ramírez, María ; Canavire Bacarreza, Gustavo J ; Jetter, Michael
• Ereignis: Veröffentlichung
• (wer): Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
• (wo): Bonn
• (wann): 2015

Weitere Informationen

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/114104
• Letzte Aktualisierung: 10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ