Top incomes and the ruling class in Latin American history. Some theoretical and methodological challenges

Javier E. Rodríguez Weber
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Abstract

ABSTRACT Recent studies on income inequality have some characteristics that differentiate them from their earlier counterparts. The spotlight on high incomes has illuminated a new angle from which to view income inequality. Because estimates of top income shares can be used as a proxy for power inequality, they can enrich our comprehension of the role of the elite in Latin America’s economic development. However, scholars interested in studying the history of economic inequality in Latin America face certain methodological and theoretical problems of their own: (1) because food and other commodities such as minerals represent the lion’s share of exported goods in Latin America, cycles in commodity prices have shaped the region’s economic history. Thus, the crux of income inequality in Latin America is who becomes richer and who becomes poorer when exports prices rise and fall; and (2) the sort of fiscal statistics typically used capture only a few countries and sometimes only limited periods. Thus, as I argue, scholars should use dynamic social tables to produce new information. I exemplify both points with a historical analysis of three Latin American countries: Chile, Colombia, and Argentina.
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拉丁美洲历史上的最高收入和统治阶级。一些理论和方法上的挑战
摘要最近关于收入不平等的研究具有一些与早期研究不同的特点。高收入的聚光灯照亮了人们看待收入不平等的新角度。因为对最高收入份额的估计可以用来衡量权力不平等,它们可以丰富我们对精英在拉丁美洲经济发展中作用的理解。然而,有兴趣研究拉丁美洲经济不平等历史的学者也面临着某些方法论和理论问题:(1)由于食品和矿产等其他商品在拉丁美洲出口商品中占很大份额,商品价格的周期塑造了该地区的经济史。因此,拉丁美洲收入不平等的关键在于,当出口价格上涨和下跌时,谁会变得更富有,谁会变穷;以及(2)通常使用的财政统计数据只涵盖少数国家,有时只涵盖有限的时期。因此,正如我所说,学者应该使用动态的社会表来产生新的信息。我通过对智利、哥伦比亚和阿根廷这三个拉丁美洲国家的历史分析来举例说明这两点。
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1.30
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发文量
11
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