Earnings Inequality Within and Across Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Groups in Four Latin American Countries
Latin American countries are generally characterized as displaying high income and earnings inequality overall along with high inequality by gender, race, and ethnicity. However, the latter phenomenon is not a major contributor to the former pheno...
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Policy Research Working Paper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2012
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2008/04/9355521/earnings-inequality-within-across-gender-racial-ethnic-groups-four-latin-american-countries http://hdl.handle.net/10986/6724 |
| Summary: | Latin American countries are generally
characterized as displaying high income and earnings
inequality overall along with high inequality by gender,
race, and ethnicity. However, the latter phenomenon is not
a major contributor to the former phenomenon. Using
household survey data from four Latin American countries
(Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, and Guyana) for which
stratification by race or ethnicity is possible, this paper
demonstrates (using Theil index decompositions as well as
Gini indices, and 90/10 and 50/10 percentile comparisons)
that within-group earnings inequality rather than
between-group earnings inequality is the main contributor to
overall earnings inequality. Simulations in which the
relatively disadvantaged gender and/or racial/ethnic group
is treated as if it were the relatively advantaged group
tend to reduce overall earnings inequality measures only
slightly and in some cases have the effect of increasing
earnings inequality measures. |
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