Panama: An Analysis Of Class Location And Income Distribution

Abstract

In this article, the theoretical perspective centered on “dynamic inequality” and inter-category or individual differences is questioned, while the structural approach of extra-categorical analysis is sustained as essential and pertinent to sociological discussions of inequality and, further, attributable to social class, rather than internal or individual differences as posited by some theorists of inequality. From this position, an attempt is made to offer a frame of reference for the analysis and understanding the distributive structure of income in contemporary Panama. Despite presenting one of the best positioned minimum wage and average income structures in Latin America, Panama occupies one of the worst income distributions in the region. The approach subscribed to in this investigation is based on the theoretical assumption that links the conditions of income inequality with the structures of occupation and class location of the workers. The purpose is to build an empirical model of class structures associated with the occupational categories of the workers and, from this, to analyze the trends in the distribution of income in the country. The data analysis was carried out based on the Labor Market Survey of the National Institute of Statistics and Census of the Comptroller General of the Republic for 2000 and 2021.