Is there a trade-off between income inequality and corruption? Evidence from Latin America

This chapter introduces the theory of embedded corporatism to explain U.S. drug enforcement. It argues that drug enforcement is an international regime where the interests and power of American corporations are embedded in drug prohibition. The regime also includes corporate-funded think tanks, some members of Congress, civil society groups, and foreign governments. The power of American corporations within the regime facilitates domestic and international consensus around drug prohibition as a mechanism for corporate expansion and capital accumulation. The chapter demonstrates that democracies in Latin America have a higher level of human rights repression than countries in the developing world that are not democracies. Although GDP per-capita in the region is higher than other developing regions, income inequality in Latin America is significantly higher than the rest of the developing world. And while the United States is the supposed leader of the free world and the richest, its rates of incarceration are greater than those found in autocracies, and its level of income inequality is significantly higher than other rich OECD countries. It is argued that the paradox of human rights and democratization in the Americas along with widening class cleavages are the by-products of the embedded corporatist drug enforcement regime.

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Inequality and crime in Latin America

Handbook of BRICS and Emerging Economies ◽

10.1093/oso/9780198827535.003.0027 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 713-745

Author(s):

Catalina Droppelmann Roepke ◽

Nicolás Trajtenberg

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Criminal Justice ◽

Income Inequality ◽

Social Exclusion ◽

Social Inequalities ◽

Economic Status ◽

Interesting Case ◽

Complex Relationship ◽

Socio Economic Status

In the field of criminology social inequality has long been theorized to be associated with crime. This issue has been extensively studied and empirical research has shown that income inequality and low socio-economic status are positively associated with crime perpetration and victimization. Latin America constitutes a particularly interesting case study to analyse the association between crime and inequality. Simultaneously, it is considered to be one of the most unequal and violent regions on the planet. Therefore, it might be tempting to conclude that inequality must play a major role in the explanation of this region’s high levels of crime and violence. While this possibility cannot be rejected, the overall goals of this chapter are to analyse and discuss this complex relationship, focusing not only on how inequality might explain crime and violence, but also on how criminal justice institutions stigmatize, label, and reproduce social inequalities and social exclusion.

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REDUCING INCOME INEQUALITY WHILE BOOSTING ECONOMIC GROWTH: CAN IT BE DONE? EVIDENCE FROM OECD COUNTRIES

The Singapore Economic Review ◽

10.1142/s0217590814500015 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 59 (01) ◽

pp. 1450001 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

PETER HOELLER ◽

ISABELLE JOUMARD ◽

ISABELL KOSKE

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Labor Market ◽

Income Inequality ◽

Oecd Countries ◽

Gdp Per Capita ◽

Labor Market Institutions ◽

Policy Reforms ◽

Market Institutions ◽

Trade Off ◽

Per Capita

This paper identifies inequality patterns across Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries and provides new analysis of their policy and non-policy drivers. One key finding is that education and anti-discrimination policies, well-designed labor market institutions and large and/or progressive tax and transfer systems can all reduce income inequality. On this basis, the paper identifies several policy reforms that could yield a double dividend in terms of boosting GDP per capita and reducing income inequality, and also flags other policy areas where reforms would entail a trade-off between both objectives.

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The income inequality and carbon emissions trade-off revisited

Energy Policy ◽

10.1016/j.enpol.2020.111302 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 139 ◽

pp. 111302 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Jorge Rojas-Vallejos ◽

Amy Lastuka

Keyword(s):

Income Inequality ◽

Carbon Emissions ◽

Trade Off

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Some Sources of Income Inequality in Latín America

Journal of Interamerican Studies and World Affairs ◽

10.2307/166359 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 38 (2-3) ◽

pp. 39-46 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Lloyd G. Reynolds

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Income Inequality ◽

Latin American ◽

Land Ownership ◽

Unequal Distribution ◽

Regressive Tax ◽

Rapid Industrialization ◽

Tax Systems

AbstractThis paper considers the deep-seated roots of income inequality in the structure of Latin American economics. These include unequal distribution of land ownership, the “Kuznets effect” of rapid industrialization, regressive tax systems, and failure of governments to pursue aggressively income equalization policies. While examples are drawn from the experience of Brazil and Mexico, similar conclusions hold for other countries of the region.

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Could an Increase in Education Raise Income Inequality? Evidence for Latin America

Latin american journal of economics ◽

10.7764/laje.51.1.1 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 51 (1) ◽

pp. 1-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Diego Battistón ◽

◽

Carolina García-Domench ◽

Leonardo Gasparini

Keyword(s):

Latin America ◽

Income Inequality

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