Commodity Cycles, Inequality, and Poverty in Latin America

By Ravi Balakrishnan, Sandra V Lizarazo Ruiz, Marika Santoro, Frederik G Toscani, Mauricio Vargas

April 26, 2021

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Ravi Balakrishnan, Sandra V Lizarazo Ruiz, Marika Santoro, Frederik G Toscani, and Mauricio Vargas. Commodity Cycles, Inequality, and Poverty in Latin America, (USA: International Monetary Fund, 2021) accessed November 21, 2024

Disclaimer: The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the views of the IMF, its Executive Board, or IMF management.

Summary

Over the past decades, inequality has risen not just in advanced economies but also in many emerging market and developing economies, becoming one of the key global policy challenges. And throughout the 20th century, Latin America was associated with some of the world’s highest levels of inequality. Yet something interesting happened in the first decade and a half of the 21st century. Latin America was the only region in the World to have experienced significant declines in inequality in that period. Poverty also fell in Latin America, although this was replicated in other regions, and Latin America started from a relatively low base. Starting around 2014, however, and even before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, poverty and inequality gains had already slowed in Latin America and, in some cases, gone into reverse. And the COVID-19 shock, which is still playing out, is likely to dramatically worsen short-term poverty and inequality dynamics. Against this background, this departmental paper investigates the link between commodity prices, and poverty and inequality developments in Latin America.

Subject: Commodities, Income, Income distribution, Income inequality, National accounts, Poverty

Keywords: Caribbean, Central America, Commodity cycle, Commodity Cycles, Commodity endowment, Commodity exporter, Commodity price boom, Equilibrium Models, Headcount ratio, IMF staff calculation, Income, Income distribution, Income inequality, Inequality, Latin America, Natural resource, Poverty, Poverty in Latin America, South America, Western Hemisphere

Publication Details

Pages:

122
Volume:

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DOI:

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Issue:

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Series:

Departmental Paper No 2021/009
Stock No:

CCILAEA
ISBN:

9781484326091
ISSN:

2616-5333

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