Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T05:43:18.775Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Poverty in Latin America: Back to the Abyss?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Ann Helwege
Ann Helwege*
Affiliation:
Department of Urban and Environmental Policy at Tufts University
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

During the early 1990s, many Latin American countries enjoyed exceptionally strong economic growth, which has been credited with making possible substantial reductions in their rates of poverty. However, the collapse of capital flows to Latin America that began in 1995 portends a decline in the region's economic growth. If these countries now register growth rates that are only modestly positive (on the order of 1-3%), the question then arises as to whether this progress in overcoming poverty is bound to stall.

Despite new rhetoric to the contrary, Latin Americans have relied on growth almost exclusively as the way to overcome poverty. The distribution of income has changed very little over the past decade and, where change did occur, in many cases it has been for the worse.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs , Volume 37 , Issue 3: Special Issue: Report on Neoliberal Restructuring , Fall 1995 , pp. 99 - 124
Copyright
Copyright © University of Miami 1995

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Andrews, G. (1992)) “Racial Inequality in Brazil and the United States: A Statistical Comparison.” Journal of Social History 26, 2 (Winter): 229-63.Google Scholar
Birdsall, N. and Sabot, R. (1994)) “Inequality as a Constraint on Growth in Latin America.” Development Policy (September). Washington, DC: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).Google Scholar
Chang, R. (1994)) “Income Inequality and Economic Growth: Evidence and Recent Theories.” [Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta] Economic Review (July/August): 1-10.Google Scholar
Economic Commission on Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) (1994)) Social Panorama of Latin America: 1994 (LC/G1844). Santiago de Chile: United Nations, ECLAC.Google Scholar
Fields, G. (1994)) “Data for Measuring Poverty and Inequality Changes in the Developing Countries.” Journal of Development Economics 44, 1 (June): 87–103.Google Scholar
Glewwe, P. and Hall, G. (1992)) “Unorthodox Adjustment and Poverty in Peru.” Finance and Development 29,4 (December): 10-13.Google Scholar
Graham, C. (1994)) Safety Nets, Politics and the Poor: Transitions to Market Economies. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution.Google Scholar
Grosh, M. (1993)) “From Platitudes to Practice: Administering Targeted Social Programs in Latin America” (The World Bank Regional and Sectoral Studies, monograph series). Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar
Hausmann, R. (1994)) “Sustaining Reform: What Role for Social Policy?” (IDB Policy Seminar Series Paper). Washington, DC: Inter-Anerican Development Bank (IDB).Google Scholar
Humphrey, J. (1994)) “Are the Unemployed Part of the Urban Poverty Problem in Latin America?” Journal of Latin American Studies 26, Part 3 (October): 713-36.Google Scholar
Programa del Empleo para America Latina y el Caribe (PREALC) (1993)) Newsletter (November). Santiago de Chile: PREALC, International Labor Organization.Google Scholar
Kuznets, S. (1955)) “Economic Growth and Income Inequality.” American Economic Review 45, 1: 1–28.Google Scholar
Mesa-Lago, C. (1994)) Changing Social Security in Latin America: Toward Alleviating the Social Costs of Economic Reform. Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner Publishers.Google Scholar
Musgrove, P. (1993)) “Feeding Latin America's Children.” World Bank Research Observer 8, 1 (January): 23-45.Google Scholar
Osorio, J. (1994)) “America Latina: nueva economia, pobreza y democracia.” Comercio Exterior 44, 7 (July): 633-639.Google Scholar
Persson, T. and Tabellini, G. (1994)) “Is Inequality Harmful for Growth?” American Economic Review 84, 3 (June): 599–619.Google Scholar
Psacharopoulos, G. and Patrinos, H. (1994)) “Indigenous People and Poverty in Latin America.” Finance and Development (March): 41-43.Google Scholar
Psacharopoulos, G. and Winter, C. (1992)) “Women's Employment and Pay in Latin America.” Finance and Development 29, 4 (December): 14–15.Google Scholar
Sheahan, J. (1991)) “Conflict and Change in Mexican Economic Strategy: Implications for Mexico and Latin America” (Monograph 34). La Jolla, CA: Center for US-Mexican Studies, University of California-San Diego.Google Scholar
(The) World Bank (1993)) “Poverty and Income Distribution in Latin America: The Story of the 1980s” (monograph; April), Washington, DC: The World Bank.Google Scholar