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on Central and South America |
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Issue of 2020‒08‒17
four papers chosen by |
| By: | Mauricio de Rosa (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Joan Vilá (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía) |
| Abstract: | Most personal income distribution studies present estimates that account for only a fraction of National Income, which prevents us from analyzing inequality and the distribution of growth in a coherent framework. To overcome this caveat, this paper presents inequality estimates accounting for the totality of National Income for Uruguay over the period 2009-2016. We assemble a database that, for the first time, combines all available income data from tax records, household surveys and a variety of ancillary sources, which is then scaled up in order to match National Income. Results show that inequality fell during the period, led by a moderate increase in the National Income share of the bottom 90%, in contrast with the decline in the shares of the top 10% and much moderate for the top 1%. Top 1%’ share shows a decreasing pattern only when undistributed profits are imputed, showing that the inequality trend depends on the complex interplay of income allocation between household and firms. Even with falling inequality, around 45% of the income growth between 2009 and 2016 was accrued by the top 10%, whilst bottom 50% captured less than 14% of new income –a barely higher share than the top 0.1%–, hence widening the absolute incomes gap between groups. |
| Keywords: | Income inequality, National Accounts, tax records, developing countries, Uruguay |
| JEL: | D31 D33 E01 |
| Date: | 2020–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-05-20&r=all |
| By: | Marcelo Dianessi (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía; Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Gabriela Mordecki (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Maximiliano Presa (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Silvia Rodríguez-Collazo (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Estadística) |
| Abstract: | The performance of the Uruguayan economy over the last decade, in contrast to that of its neighbouring economies, encouraged the decoupling hypothesis. Thus, Uruguay’s GDP growth seems to have moved away from the evidence of previous studies (Lanzilotta et al., 2003) that showed that Uruguay’s growth was in the long run the result of the semi-sum of the growth rates of Argentina and Brazil. This research attempts to answer these questions by applying, for different samples included in the period 1980 to 2018, analysis of cyclical comovements, cointegration analysis, estimation VEC models and impulse response simulations. The results obtained allow us to discard that the long-term relationship expressed as a semi-sum is sustained, when the information is extended until 2018. It is necessary to include relative prices indicators linked to the Brazilian economy within the determinants of Uruguay's GDP trajectory in order to recompose the dynamic long-term relationship that links it to that of its neighbours. This is an indication that Uruguay is stills exposed to regional shocks, but in a somewhat different way than in the past, since the relationship with international prices is also relevant to the long-term relationship. |
| Keywords: | decoupling, regional dependence, cointegration, Uruguay |
| JEL: | C32 F31 F43 |
| Date: | 2020–02 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-01-20&r=all |
| By: | Carlos Bianchi (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Pablo Galaso (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración. Instituto de Economía); Sergio Palomeque (Universidad de la República (Uruguay). Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y de Administración) |
| Abstract: | This research aims to analyze the collaboration networks associated with the processes of invention and patenting in Latin American countries between 1970 and 2017. To do so, we apply social network analysis techniques to a rich database containing information from patents developed by Latin American inventors and registered in the USPTO during such period. We build and analyze three types of collaboration networks: networks of inventors, networks of innovators (i.e. patent owners) and networks of countries in the region. The study of the structural properties and the evolution of such networks allow us to present unprecedented empirical evidence on the forms of interaction and collaboration to invent in Latin America. This evidence shows that collaboration networks in Latin America are highly fragmented and disconnected. Moreover, networks are notoriously foreign-oriented, i.e. the linkages with external nodes are critical compared to the low presence of local connections. Major differences among the countries of the region can be observed, which allow us to identify different behaviors according to how much they use the patent system and the relative development of the national networks. In a region which has been historically characterized by high heterogeneity, this research allows recognizing specific patterns of innovation at the national level. In sum, the contributions of the paper are three fold. First, it presents novel empirical findings with unique information on interaction patterns at the Latin American level. Second, it allows analyzing the whole region and the main trends in the light of the large research background on invention and development from this region. Finally, it discusses some stylized facts in national cases, with the aim of encouraging new research questions for further research agenda. |
| Keywords: | patents, invention, social network analysis, collaboration networks, Latin America |
| JEL: | O31 O54 P48 |
| Date: | 2020–04 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ulr:wpaper:dt-04-20&r=all |
| By: | Claudio Ferraz; Frederico Finan; Monica Martinez-Bravo |
| Abstract: | This paper analyzes how changes in the concentration of political power affect long-run development. We study Brazil’s military dictatorship whose rise to power dramatically altered the distribution of power of local political elites. We document that municipalities that were more politically concentrated prior to the dictatorship in the 1960s are relatively richer in 2000, despite being poorer initially. Our evidence suggests that this reversal of fortune was the result of the military’s policies aimed at undermining the power of traditional elites. These policies increased political competition locally, which ultimately led to better governance, more public goods, and higher income levels. |
| JEL: | D72 N46 O43 |
| Date: | 2020–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:27456&r=all |