Documento de trabajo
Why hasn’t inequality changed in Chile since 1990?
Fecha
2007Registro en:
Series Documentos de Trabajo, No. 254 Agosto, 2007
Autor
Larrañaga Jiménez, Osvaldo
Valenzuela, Juan Pablo
Institución
Resumen
This study measures the impact of changes in the income determinants
on inequality in the 1990 to 2003 period, in order to answer the
question of why income distribution as a whole has not changed. The
methodology utilized is micro-simulations of income distribution,
which is the most appropriate technique for analyzing the relationship
between changes in determinant factors and changes in income
inequality. It is analyzed the role of returns, participation rates,
occupational choices, schooling enbdownments, subsidies, pensions
and household size. The inertia shown by inequality reflects the
interplay of factors that cancel each other out, others that operate
slowly over time, and the emergence of new developments that affect
distribution. Furthermore, there are no clear indications that this
situation will change over the next few years. Progress in this area will
require a more active public policy than in the past.