| By: |
Claudio Agostini (ILADES-Georgetown University, Universidad Alberto Hurtado);
Phillip Brown (Colby College, Waterville, Maine, United States and International Food Policy Research Institute, Washington, D.C., United States.) |
| Abstract: |
Despite success in reducing poverty over the last twenty years, inequality in
Chile has remained virtually unchanged, making Chile one of the least equal
countries in the world. High levels of inequality have been shown to hamper
further reductions in poverty as well as economic growth, and local inequality
has been shown to affect such outcomes as violence and health. The study of
inequality at the local level is thus crucial for understanding the economic
well-being of a country. Local measures of inequality have been difficult to
obtain, but recent theoretical advances have enabled the combination of survey
and census data to generate estimates of inequality that are robust at
disaggregated geographic levels. In this paper, we employ this methodology to
produce consistent and precise estimates of inequality for every county in
Chile. We find considerable heterogeneity in county-level estimates of
inequality, with Gini coefficients ranging from 0.41 to 0.63. An appendix
includes estimated inequality for each county so the broader research
community may assess the effect of local inequality on a broad range out
outcomes, as well as analyze the determinants of inequality itself. |
| Keywords: |
inequality, poverty mapping, government subsidies, cash transfers, Chile |
| JEL: |
O15 D63 O54 |
| Date: |
2007–08 |
| URL: |
http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ila:ilades:inv186&r=lam |