Suchergebnisse

Economic inequality and poverty have persisted in Latin America despite important changes in political and policy regimes. This paper explores the relationship between various human capital programs aimed to reduced poverty and how improvements of those in poverty in the left tail of the earning income distribution are likely to reduce inequality. First it reviews some recent benefit/cost estimates for human capital intervention in LAC, suggesting some investments in which the returns appear quite high. Then it turns over to how much increases in schooling attainment targeted to the poor would reduce poverty and income inequality. This is illustrated empirically using the 2004 Chilean Social Protection Survey data. Alternative simulations suggest significant impacts of well targeted increases in schooling attainment on reducing poverty and inequality. ; La desigualdad económica y la pobreza han persistido en América Latina a pesar de importantes cambios en los regímenes políticos y en la política social. Este artículo explora la relación entre diversos programas de capital humano destinados a reducir la pobreza y cómo una reducción de la pobreza tiende a reducir la desigualdad. En primer lugar, se presentan estimaciones de costo/ beneficio recientes de distintas intervenciones en capital humano en América Latina, sugiriendo que en algunas de estas inversiones los rendimientos parecen bastante altos. Luego, se profundiza en cómo un aumento en la escolaridad de las personas en situación de pobreza reduciría los niveles de pobreza y la desigualdad de ingresos. Para ilustrar empíricamente este punto se utilizan los datos de la ronda 2004 de la Encuesta de Protección Social de Chile. Simulaciones alternativas sugieren un impacto significativo del aumento en los años de escolaridad, focalizados en personas pobres, en la reducción de la pobreza y la desigualdad.

Economic inequality and poverty have persisted in Latin America despite important changes in political and policy regimes. This paper explores the relationship between various human capital programs aimed to reduced poverty and how improvements of those in poverty in the left tail of the earning income distribution are likely to reduce inequality. First it reviews some recent benefit/cost estimates for human capital intervention in LAC, suggesting some investments in which the returns appear quite high. Then it turns over to how much increases in schooling attainment targeted to the poor would reduce poverty and income inequality. This is illustrated empirically using the 2004 Chilean Social Protection Survey data. Alternative simulations suggest significant impacts of well targeted increases in schooling attainment on reducing poverty and inequality.

Inspired by a suggestion from Anne Krueger, this paper explores the attraction and power of a simple two-by-two taxonomy for the analysis of policies as they relate to increasing incomes for the poor and economic growth. However, real-world complexities and serious policy assignment, estimation and measurement problems limit the overall utility of such simplified taxonomies. Nevertheless, useful policy insights, in particular contexts within certain markets and institutions, might be gleaned through the development of slightly more sophisticated taxonomies, as considered here in detail, that could apply continuous dimensions of poverty alleviation and increased efficiency. The author concludes that such scientific analyses will certainly raise important policy and research questions as to the choices made, their characterization, and why political economy processes do not lead to "better" policy choices in a particular context.