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Income Share of the Top 10%, the Middle 50% and the Bottom 40% in Latin America: 1920-2011

Author

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  • Pablo Astorga

    (Institut Barcelona d’Estudis Internacionals (IBEI))

Abstract

This paper analyses, for the first time, comparable income shares of the top 10%, the middle 50% and the bottom 40% of the labour force in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela (LA6) from 1920 to 2011 using a new dataset. The main findings are: i) over the whole period the LA6 exhibited a recurrent very high income concentration at the top 10% (an average share of 48.1%) and a relatively low share for those of the bottom 40% (13.9%), with a Palma ratio of 3.5; ii) although the three shares varied over time and showed important differences across countries and developmental epochs, the region largely missed the Great Levelling experienced by the US and the UK during the middle decades of the last century; iii) there is no support over time for the “Palma proposition” stating a relative stability of the income share of the middle 50%. Despite policy efforts in the 2000s to raise the income of the bottom 40%, altogether, a more equitable income distribution is still a pending task in Latin America.

Suggested Citation

  • Pablo Astorga, 2023. "Income Share of the Top 10%, the Middle 50% and the Bottom 40% in Latin America: 1920-2011," Working Papers 0244, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    • Handle: RePEc:hes:wpaper:0244
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    File URL: https://www.ehes.org/wp/EHES_244.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Pablo Astorga & Ame R. Berges & Valpy Fitzgerald, 2005. "The standard of living in Latin America during the twentieth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 58(4), pages 765-796, November.
    2. Anthony B. Atkinson & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Top Incomes in the Long Run of History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-71, March.
    3. Morley, Samuel A., 2000. "The effects of growth and economic reform on income distribution in Latin America," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), August.
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    5. Leticia Arroyo Abad & Pablo Astorga Junquera, 2017. "Latin American earnings inequality in the long run," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 11(3), pages 349-374, September.
    6. Bértola, Luis & Castelnovo, Cecilia & Rodríguez, Javier & Willebald, Henry, 2010. "Between the colonial heritage and the first globalization boom: on income inequality in the Southern Cone," Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 28(2), pages 307-341, September.
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    9. Leonardo Gasparini & Guillero Cruces & Leopoldo Tornarolli, 2011. "Recent Trends In Income Inequality In Latin America," Economía Journal, The Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association - LACEA, vol. 0(Spring 20), pages 147-201, January.
    10. Peter H. Lindert & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2016. "Unequal Gains: American Growth and Inequality since 1700," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10670.
    11. Bertola, Luis & Ocampo, Jose Antonio, 2012. "The Economic Development of Latin America since Independence," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199662142.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    economic development; industrialisation; income inequality; Latin America;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O10 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - General
    • N1 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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