In his report, Dr Amir Lebdioui, discusses the limits of what can be achieved in terms of inequality reduction without measures to diversify away from commodity dependence. What a country produces and exports matters for improving the distribution of income. However, the policy approaches to inequality reduction in Latin America have too often focused on mitigating the symptoms of inequality rather than its root causes, which include a scarcity of jobs that pay above subsistence levels, limited areas of competitive advantage in high value-added sectors,and high degrees of commodity dependence.
If Latin America is ever to shake off its label as ‘the most unequal place in the world’, its governments will need to take bolder steps that tackle the root causes of inequality. This event will discuss different policy pathways moving forward, such as the role of coherent industrial, education and innovation policies.
You can read Dr Lebdioui's complete report here. También disponible en español aquí. Também disponível em português aqui.