Poverty, inequality, and human capital development in Latin America, 1950-2025

No AccessStand Alone Books1 Feb 2013Poverty, inequality, and human capital development in Latin America, 1950-2025Authors/Editors: Juan Luis Londono, World BankJuan Luis Londono, World Bankhttps://doi.org/10.1596/0-8213-3630-4SectionsAboutPDF (1 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract:Latin America is known throughout the world for its widespread poverty, extensive inequality, and slow economic growth. This report states that these economic indicators are not unrelated, and that the most important factor contributing to their persistence has been the lack of adequate education for the new generations. The average Latin American worker has two years less education than would be expected for the region's level of economic development. This paper calls for: (i) greatly expanded investment in basic education for 95 percent of the young population, and (ii) the continuation of schooling up to secondary education for 200 million students. The report argues that only a rapid increase in human capital development can bring the region out of poverty quickly. It will substantially accelerate growth, totally eliminate the excess of inequality in the region, and upgrade the standard of living for 70 percent of Latin Americans today living below the poverty line. This effort will require considerable financial resources but will lead to a high rate of economic and social return. In order to be effective, however, the new financial effort must coincide with institutional development that fully incorporates economic and social rationality in the social service of education. With fairer financing, pluralistic and autonomous modes of organization, incentives for efficiency and equality, more competitive provision of services, and consumers empowered with better information and financial resources, the increase in human capital development will not only improve economic growth and social development, but also provide a fertile ground for profound and sustainable democracy. FiguresreferencesRecommendeddetailsCited byFramework of New Poverty Decomposition: An Application to the Evolution of Income DistributionSustainability, Vol.15, No.32 February 2023Do Flexibility Measures Affect the Wage Share? An Empirical Analysis of Selected European CountriesReview of Political Economy, Vol.1530 January 2023Does Tourism Induce Sustainable Human Capital Development in BRICS Through the Channel of Capital Formation and Financial Development? Evidence From Augmented ARDL With Structural Break and Fourier-TY CausalityFrontiers in Psychology, Vol.136 April 2022Education and Inequality in Rural Bangladesh: A Longitudinal StudyAsia-Pacific Journal of Rural Development, Vol.31, No.15 May 2021Accounting for income inequality: empirical evidence from IndiaIndian Economic Review, Vol.52, No.1-28 December 2017Patterns of earnings differentials across three conservative European welfare regimes with alternative education systemsJournal of Applied Statistics, Vol.43, No.11 June 2015Education and poverty correlates: A case of Trans-Nzoia County, KenyaInternational Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, Vol.7, No.730 September 2015Further results on the regression-based approach to inequality decomposition with evidence from IndiaEmpirical Economics, Vol.48, No.37 June 2014Elites, Rent-Cycling and Development: Adjustment to Land Scarcity in Mauritius, Kenya and Côte d'IvoireDevelopment Policy Review, Vol.28, No.41 June 2010Mexico: Evolution of Education and Inequality in the Last Two DecadesABC's, 123's, and the Golden Rule: The Pacifying Effect of Education on Civil War, 1980?1999International Studies Quarterly, Vol.50, No.4Economic and social trends in Latin America: the bases for social discontentInternational Review of Administrative Sciences, Vol.70, No.430 June 2016The Lopsided Continent: Inequality in Latin AmericaAnnual Review of Sociology, Vol.29, No.1Critical Choices at a Critical Age: Youth Emancipation Paths and School Attainment in Latin AmericaSSRN Electronic JournalLabor Markets in Latin America: A Supply-Side StorySSRN Electronic JournalPoverty, Inequality, and Growth in Latin America: Searching for the High Road to GlobalizationLatin American Research Review, Vol.35, No.35 October 2022International peace and security at a multilateral moment: What we seem to know, what we don't, and whyContemporary Security Policy, Vol.20, No.328 September 2007Russia's Middle ClassesPost-Soviet Affairs, Vol.14, No.215 May 2013Children's Advancement Through School in Brazil: the Role of Transitory Shocks to Household IncomeSSRN Electronic JournalLabor Markets in Latin America: A Supply-Side StorySSRN Electronic JournalLiberalization and ethnic conflict in Latin AmericaStudies in Comparative International Development, Vol.32, No.2Towards an Effective Regulatory and Supervisory Framework for Latin AmericaSSRN Electronic Journal View Published: June 1996ISBN: 978-0-8213-3630-4 Copyright & Permissions Related RegionsLatin America & CaribbeanRelated CountriesBrazilRelated TopicsHealth Nutrition and PopulationMacroeconomics and Economic GrowthPoverty ReductionRural Development KeywordsBASIC EDUCATIONPUBLIC INVESTMENTSFINANCIAL RESOURCESSOCIAL INEQUALITYHUMAN CAPITALGROWTH RATEECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTSTANDARD OF LIVINGECONOMIC GROWTHEXTREME POVERTYHIGH INEQUALITYHUMAN CAPITALHUMAN DEVELOPMENTILLITERACYINCOMEINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME INEQUALITYINEQUALITY PDF DownloadLoading ...