Socio-economic Groups and Income Distribution in Mexico
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2834412 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Kenneth F Johnson (0000-0001-7127-3370, University of Missouri–St. Louis, corresponding author), Wouter Van Ginneken |
| Year | 1981 |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 575 |
| Publication date | 1981-08-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Hispanic American Historical Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0018-2168 • E-ISSN: 1527-1900 |
| Publisher | JSTOR (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.2307/2513462 |
| OpenAlex | W2325285176 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 7 |
In almost all Latin American semi-industrialised countries the high rate of economic growth over the past 25 years has been accompanied by an increase in income inequality. To a certain extent this is inevitable because productivity in the so-called modern sectors tends to rise faster than in traditional sectors. On the other hand, effective policies do exist to reduce the inequality of income distribution or at least to keep it from becoming more unequal. If policies of this sort are not adopted and a high degree of income inequality prevails for a long time, some socio-economic groups may benefit disproportionately from economic growth while others are effectively denied a share in its fruits. In the case of Mexico, since 1940, successive governments have provided substantial tax relief for large companies willing to invest and have protected internal markets by raising tariff and non-tariff barriers. This policy has led to a high average profit ratio, amounting to about 20 per cent on invested capital in 1970, and to increasing income inequality. The socio-economic groups that have benefited most from this development are the managers and owners of large enterprises, the owners of capital, organised workers and salaried employees. Using Mexican data this article analyses the probable effect of various policies on the distribution of income between socio-economic groups, on employment and on economic growth. In the first section some figures are provided on the trend of income distribution between 1950 and 1975. A brief explanation is then given of the main characteristics of a linear programming model developed in order to examine various alternative policies. Thirdly, some of the results of the model are presented and in a concluding section their implications are discussed
Demographic economics · Distribution (mathematics) · Economics · Geography · Income distribution · Inequality · Mathematical analysis · Socioeconomics · Economic Theory and Policy · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Mathematics
| Unique citing works | 7 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,15 |
| Citation span | 1980 - 2021 (42) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |