Intergenerational Social Mobility in Latin America: A Review of Existing Evidence
Viviane M. R. Azevedo* César P. Bouillon

Abstract

This article reviews evidence on intergenerational social mobility in Latin America. Results indicate that mobility is low in the region, even when compared with the United States and United Kingdom, which rank low on social mobility. The evidence also suggests high levels of immobility at the income distribution’s lower and upper tails. While intergenerational education mobility have improved in recent decades, which may increase income mobility for younger cohorts, overall the region still presents lower intergenerational social mobility. Previous studies suggest that these results might be associated …ver más…

What separates the ―winners and losers‖ or the ―haves and the have-nots‖ in a society has been pointed out not only to hinder economic growth but also to be a major force of political instability and violence. Many authors have argued that one of the positive outcomes of market reforms and market-based industrial and post-industrial economic structures is a constant expansion of social mobility opportunities for the population (Cortés & Escobar, 2005; Featherman et al., 1975).

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Figure 1. Inequality (Gini Index) in LAC and Other World Regions
60 50 40 30 20 10 0
Latin Sub-Saharan East Asia America and Africa and the the Pacific Caribbean Middle East and North Africa OECD South Asia Europe and Central Asia

Source: World Development Indicators (2006).

The concepts of social exclusion, income inequality, inequality of opportunities, poverty, social mobility and growth are intimately related. As noted by Ocampo (2004) ―social exclusion manifests itself in Latin America and the Caribbean most clearly in persistent unequal income distribution, which gives rise to poverty that is worse than the region’s level of development would suggest‖. This article summarizes key concepts related to social mobility, as well as its measurement and determinants, focusing on intergenerational mobility and relating it to