Abstract
Has economic growth in developing countries led to increasing inequality in the size distribution of income? Following a brief review of the advantages and deficiencies of several traditional measures of income distribution, the author examines the evidence from Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Mexico in recent years. The findings suggest that the income shares received by the lower half and by the top 5 per cent of families in Puerto Rico and Mexico have declined from 1950 to 1963, while the income shares received by the bottom nine deciles of families in Argentina have also fallen during the same period. The rising Gini ratio and standard deviation of the logs of income, both indicating greater inequality, contrast with a declining coefficient of variation for all three countries. More detailed sectoral distributions for each year reveal greater equality within agriculture than non‐agriculture for Puerto Rico and Mexico, while Argentina and the United States demonstrate less equality within agriculture. The trends in the countrywide distributions are consistent with the observation of the increasing differential between sectors, the increasing weight of the more unequal sector, and the increasing level of inequality within both sectors. These trends, however, are qualified by the particular set of measures which are applied to the data. Finally, the author speculates on possible explainations for these trends in terms of changes in the crop and industry mix.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 303-332 |
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Journal | Review of Income and Wealth |
| Volume | 16 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1970 |
| Externally published | Yes |
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ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Economics and Econometrics
Cite this
INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN PUERTO RICO, ARGENTINA, AND MEXICO. / Weisskoff, Richard.
In: Review of Income and Wealth, Vol. 16, No. 4, 1970, p. 303-332.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN PUERTO RICO, ARGENTINA, AND MEXICO
AU - Weisskoff, Richard
PY - 1970
Y1 - 1970
N2 - Has economic growth in developing countries led to increasing inequality in the size distribution of income? Following a brief review of the advantages and deficiencies of several traditional measures of income distribution, the author examines the evidence from Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Mexico in recent years. The findings suggest that the income shares received by the lower half and by the top 5 per cent of families in Puerto Rico and Mexico have declined from 1950 to 1963, while the income shares received by the bottom nine deciles of families in Argentina have also fallen during the same period. The rising Gini ratio and standard deviation of the logs of income, both indicating greater inequality, contrast with a declining coefficient of variation for all three countries. More detailed sectoral distributions for each year reveal greater equality within agriculture than non‐agriculture for Puerto Rico and Mexico, while Argentina and the United States demonstrate less equality within agriculture. The trends in the countrywide distributions are consistent with the observation of the increasing differential between sectors, the increasing weight of the more unequal sector, and the increasing level of inequality within both sectors. These trends, however, are qualified by the particular set of measures which are applied to the data. Finally, the author speculates on possible explainations for these trends in terms of changes in the crop and industry mix.
AB - Has economic growth in developing countries led to increasing inequality in the size distribution of income? Following a brief review of the advantages and deficiencies of several traditional measures of income distribution, the author examines the evidence from Puerto Rico, Argentina, and Mexico in recent years. The findings suggest that the income shares received by the lower half and by the top 5 per cent of families in Puerto Rico and Mexico have declined from 1950 to 1963, while the income shares received by the bottom nine deciles of families in Argentina have also fallen during the same period. The rising Gini ratio and standard deviation of the logs of income, both indicating greater inequality, contrast with a declining coefficient of variation for all three countries. More detailed sectoral distributions for each year reveal greater equality within agriculture than non‐agriculture for Puerto Rico and Mexico, while Argentina and the United States demonstrate less equality within agriculture. The trends in the countrywide distributions are consistent with the observation of the increasing differential between sectors, the increasing weight of the more unequal sector, and the increasing level of inequality within both sectors. These trends, however, are qualified by the particular set of measures which are applied to the data. Finally, the author speculates on possible explainations for these trends in terms of changes in the crop and industry mix.
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U2 - 10.1111/j.1475-4991.1970.tb00759.x
DO - 10.1111/j.1475-4991.1970.tb00759.x
M3 - Article
VL - 16
SP - 303
EP - 332
JO - Review of Income and Wealth
JF - Review of Income and Wealth
SN - 0034-6586
IS - 4
ER -