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Changes in poverty and the stability of income distribution in Argentina: evidence from the 1990s via decompositions

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  • Florencia Lopez Boo

    (Department of Economics, University of Oxford)

Abstract

From 1992 to 2001, despite its rapid economic growth during the early 1990s, Argentina experienced a period characterized by increasing income inequality and poverty. An axiomatically modified Datt-Ravallion decomposition, that separates changes in poverty rates into mean and inequality components, will illustrate how each of them has contributed to those changes. Contrary to the claims of much of the recent cross-country literature, income inequality does not appear stable in Argentina. Previous results are extended in two key ways. First, the empirical density function is used to calculate the inequality component, without assuming a particular functional form for the Lorenz curve. Second, both components are recomputed without the vaguely defined Datt-Ravallion residual, which improves interpretability.

Suggested Citation

  • Florencia Lopez Boo, 2006. "Changes in poverty and the stability of income distribution in Argentina: evidence from the 1990s via decompositions," Working Papers 33, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    • Handle: RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2006-33
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    File URL: http://www.ecineq.org/milano/WP/ECINEQ2006-33.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Negre, Mario, 2010. "Concepts and Operationalization of Pro-Poor Growth," WIDER Working Paper Series 047, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    decomposition of changes in poverty; poverty measures; inequality and growth.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C16 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Econometric and Statistical Methods; Specific Distributions
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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