El problema del empleo en una sociedad sigma

In the Latin American countries, there exists a paradox that is scarcely noticed: in the last decades, the education expansion has been significant, but the degree of inequality has not changed much. Is education a non equalizing system? This paper intends to resolve the paradox. Sigma theory is utilized for that purpose. Sigma is an abstract society, which is capitalist, overpopulated, and socially heterogeneous. In order to establish a set of theoretical relations between education, human capital, and income, a sigma model is constructed. One of the predictions of this model is that, in that set of relations, the individual’s ethnicity matters. This hypothesis is then submitted to the statistical test. The test is carried out using Peruvian data, the 2003 National Survey of Households (ENAHO). The finding is that the prediction is consistent with facts. In a sigma society, therefore, the education system—as it operates now—does not seem to be an equalizing mechanism. In the light of this result, the particular nature of the employment problem in a sigma society is discussed.