Abstract

PRESSMAN, Steven. The middle class in latin American countries. Prob. Des [online]. 2011, vol.42, n.164, pp.127-152. ISSN 0301-7036.

This paper uses the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) to analyze the dimension of the middle class in various Latin American countries. One of its major findings is that during the first decade of this century, the size of the middle class in Latin America did not appear to depend on demographic factors. A second finding is that, in contrast with the majority of developed countries, government income and expenditure policies had little influence on increasing the size of the middle class in the Latin American countries in the sample. Finally, as in the developed world, labor market factors have little influence on the size of the middle class in Latin America, the main exceptions being Brazil and Mexico, where employment seems to increase the size of the middle class.

Keywords : Middle class; income distribution; Luxembourg Income Study (LIS); Latin America; income and expenditure policy.

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