Income shares south of the Rio Bravo, 1920-2011

Astorga Junquera, Pablo

doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.62467/RHEAL/01.01.02

Income shares south of the Rio Bravo, 1920-2011

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Astorga P. Income shares south of the Rio Bravo, 1920-2011. Revista historia económica de América Latina. 2024 Jan;1(1):9-41. DOI: 10.62467/RHEAL/01.01.02

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 recur-rent 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 did not show a lasting equalising outcome resembling the Great Levelling experienced by developed economies 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.