Income inequality and economic growth: New evidence from Latin America

This paper explores the relationship between the inequality of income distribution and the economic growth of 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries during the 1980-2010 period. The study shows that the features of this relationship depend on the income level. In general, inequality is harmful to...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Delbianco, Fernando, Dabús, Carlos, Caraballo, M. Ángeles, Francesco Bogliacino (Coordinador)
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/48841
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/11441/48841
https://doi.org/10.15446/cuad.econ.v33n63.45338
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Income inequality
economic growth
level of development
desigualdad del ingreso
crecimiento económico
economías en desarrollo
Descripción
Sumario:This paper explores the relationship between the inequality of income distribution and the economic growth of 20 Latin American and Caribbean countries during the 1980-2010 period. The study shows that the features of this relationship depend on the income level. In general, inequality is harmful to economic growth. However, when it comes to the upper tail of the richer countries’ income distribution, higher inequality encourages economic growth and the relation becomes positive. Thus, contrary to the economic policy recommendations for the richer countries, our evidence suggests that progressive redistributive policies in favor of poorer layers of population promote economic growth in lower income economies.