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This paper introduces Kohonen self-organizing maps to the scholarly discussion of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). We use data through the MDGs' approximate mid-point (2000–2008) to analyze three world regions: Africa, Asia and Latin America. We observe a handful of countries that showcase noteworthy progress, including Ghana, Senegal, China, Vietnam, India, and Brazil, and then examine more closely the three major regions of developing countries: Africa, Latin America, and Asia. Major statistical differences within Africa separate the northern and southern regions from the central, eastern and western regions. In contrast, Latin America and Asia are largely homogeneous in the MDG measures with the exceptions of Afghanistan, Haiti, and Bolivia, which lag far behind. The substantial differences between Africa and the other continents (and indeed within Africa itself) appear to be mainly attributable to deficiencies in education and information and communications technology infrastructure, both areas that are imperative for the achievement of other MDGs. The paper demonstrates self-organizing maps to be a useful tool in evaluating differential convergence over the three time periods under investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2000s decade represented a turning point in the increasing inequality trend that had been observed in Latin America during the second half of the twentieth century. This paper offers an analysis of the association between these shifts and short-, medium- and long-term factors. For our exploration we assemble a database on income distribution indicators systematically calculated directly from household surveys with emphasis on within-country consistency, methodology, definitions and coverage for the 1980–2013 years. This database allows observing clearly that the increases in inequality throughout the 1980s and 1990s decades have been counteracted by the improvements in the 2000s and the initial years of the 2010 decades. From our econometric exploration we find that (a) while there are short-term forces that are associated with underlying improvements in the distribution—including human capital accumulation and declines in the population dependency rate, (b) medium-term factors that could have been inequality-increasing in the past ameliorated their effect in the 2000s years—namely, the effect of the trade reforms of the 1980s which faded away toward the end of the past century and (c) there are two short-term forces that might have played an important progressive role during the 2000s years, but that could shift in the opposite direction in the near future—namely, the improvement in terms of trade and the declining returns to schooling. Thus, we conclude that the improvement in income distribution in the region could be only a temporary phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper contrasts the impact of the financial crisis of 2008 on poor countries and poor people with the debt crisis of the 1980s. The financial crisis of the 2000S affected more regions of the world but its effects on particular countries were more heterogeneous, varying according to countries' dependence on different sources of foreign exchange. The worst affected regions were South and Eastern Europe and Latin America. Because of heavy aid dependence and less integration with financial markets, sub-Saharan Africa was less badly affected, while in the 1980s sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America suffered most. In aggregate terms, the fall in gross domestic product (GDP) was much greater in the 2000s than the 1980s. Yet, taken as a whole, the impact on poverty appears to have been less. One major difference between the 1980s and 2000s was the greater autonomy countries had in policy-making, and lesser dependence on the International Monetary Fund, allowing countries to follow more expansionary policies. Government expenditure as a proportion of GDP was generally sustained in 2000s in contrast to severe cuts in the 1980s. Moreover, there were more extensive social support programmes in existence in the 2000s that acted as mild protections against economic downturn. Like the 1980s, there were no real-time data for poverty in 2008 and 2009 at a global level. Global estimates based on simulations show a slowdown in poverty reduction and no increase in actual poverty rates, yet the limited ‘actual’ data reviewed here show an increase in the rate of income poverty, some with social protection programmes in many places, although mostly the increase was more modest than the 1980s. The crisis of 2000s was shorter than the 1980s, so that people and governments could draw on their savings to protect their livelihoods, but if the global recession recurs, the poverty consequences could become much worse. The need for short-term indicators of poverty remains urgent, if we are to be able to analyse the effects of crises on poverty (natural disasters and conflict as well as economic fluctuations) rapidly and accurately, and to design appropriate protective policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the decline in income inequality that has taken place over 2002-2007 in most Latin American countries against the background of its steady increase over 1980-2002. The paper then analyzes the factors that could explain this trend reversal. It focuses in particular on favorable external conditions, cyclical factors, improvements in the distribution of educational achievements and the subsequent drop in skill-premium, and changes in macro-economic and social policies introduced in several countries, particularly by a growing number of left-of-center governments that have come to power during the past decade. An econometric test for the years 1990-2007 using a sample of countries covering the majority of the population in the region indicates that, in addition to a favorable business cycle and external conditions, a decline in skill premium and the new policy model of fiscally prudent social-democracy that is emerging this decade in much of Latin America impacted favorably the distribution of income. If this approach will survive the current crisis, much of the recent inequality decline is likely to become permanent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is one of the first to document multigenerational educational mobility for a Latin American country. It complements a recent wave of articles that study mobility beyond two generations in developed countries. Specifically, we link data on educational attainment for three generations in Chile. Our main findings indicate that grandparental education influences grandchildren's schooling even after taking the parental factor into account. Accordingly, standard two-generation estimations over-predict intergenerational mobility over three generations. We investigate three potential avenues of transmission. First, we find that upward schooling mobility has moderately increased with younger cohorts, and that such changes may be attributable to institutional reforms. Second, there is important heterogeneity in educational mobility across regions in Chile, which sheds light on how parents' place of origin matters for upward mobility. Third, a gender-specific lineage analysis indicates that having more educated same-sex ancestors matters more for women and suggests that gender-related social roles may be passed along generations within families. All in all, our results suggest that family background effects can be longer lasting than previously believed, affecting the endowments and idiosyncratic capabilities of children. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper looks at a particular type of anti-poverty aid and its implications for gender inequality. The development model underpinning the Mexican Oportunidades Programme, a 'flagship' in Latin America, focuses on the reduction of inter-generational poverty through transfers conditioned on 'co-responsibilities' fulfilled especially by mothers and aimed at strengthening the human capital of household members. Through a consultant-insider narrative on the tension between this policy model and the actual lives of beneficiaries, the paper scrutinizes the delivery of the Programme in the light of the capabilities approach. Some case studies are then examined within this framework, assessing the position of women in each case by reviewing the state of their capabilities and resources. This exercise reveals social relationships obscured by the Programme's representations and assumptions of gender roles within families, pointing to a significant failure to address women's own needs by development schemes aimed at poverty rather than at inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most analysts of the modern Latin American economy have held the pessimistic belief in historical persistence—they believe that Latin America has always had very high levels of inequality, and that it is the Iberian colonists' fault. Thus, modern analysts see today a more unequal Latin America compared with Asia and most rich post-industrial nations and assume that this must always have been true. Indeed, some have argued that high inequality appeared very early in the post-conquest Americas, and that this fact supported rent-seeking and anti-growth institutions which help explain the disappointing growth performance we observe there even today. The recent leveling of inequality in the region since the 1990s seems to have done little to erode that pessimism. It is important, therefore, to stress that this alleged persistence is based on an historical literature which has made little or no effort to be comparative, and it matters. Compared with the rest of the world, inequality wasnot highin the century following 1492, and it wasnot even highin the post-independence decades just prior to Latin America'sbelle époqueand start with industrialization. It only became high during the commodity boom 1870–1913, by the end of which it had joined the rich country unequal club that included the USA and the UK. Latin America only becamerelativelyhigh between 1913 and the 1970s when it missed the Great Egalitarian Leveling, which took place almost everywhere else. That Latin American inequality has its roots in its colonial past is a myth. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Despite being recognised as an appropriate tool to address different dimensions of transport-related social exclusion, the Capability Approach still lacks application within the domain of school transportation. This study conceptualised the vectors of collective functionings and capabilities of preschools and nurseries in São Paulo. From the location of 204 schools, the conditions to access schools through walking were assessed using georeferenced datasets relating to mobility, road safety, and the built environment. The schools were analysed according to their conditions to walk (resources) and the corresponding conversion rates to achieve higher shares of pedestrian trips (functionings), considering the idiosyncrasies between public and private schools. That enabled the estimation of the mobility capabilities, which presented gaps when compared with the functionings. Results corroborated with the class and race disparities in the access to education in Brazil, in which schools with poorer conditions to walk do not have any other options than walking to go to school (e.g. transit or bicycle), requiring investments in the upgrading of the urban infrastructure. On the other hand, schools in wealthier regions present barriers to the fulfilment of active mobility even when the resources are considered sufficient, in which the implementation of educational programmes in recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How has Latin America's well-being evolved over time? How does Latin America compare to today's developed countries (OECD, for short)? What explains their differences? These questions are addressed using an historical index of human development. A sustained improvement in well-being can be observed since 1870. The absolute gap betweenOECDand Latin America widened over time, but an incomplete catching-up—largely explained by education—occurred since 1900, but faded away after 1980, as Latin America fell behind theOECDin terms of longevity. Once the first health transition was exhausted, the contribution of life expectancy to human development declined. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The relation between the economy and equity has shown marked contrasts in Latin America over the past two decades. Increases in public spending have been reflected in advances in education, health and access to basic utilities. In contrast, the region has experienced weak labor market performance and limited advances in social security. An intermediate situation has characterized poverty and income distribution, where there has been important progress during the first decade of the twenty-first century after almost a quarter century of unsatisfactory performance. This panorama can be described as a process of human development with precarious employment and economic insecurity. It indicates that Latin America has found it easier to respond to the challenge of human development than to the reduction of inequality and the expansion of ‘labor citizenship’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to identify some key dimensions for a human rights-based approach (HRBA) in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) monitoring processes. We aim to highlight not only how this can bring human rights and the MDGs closer to each other, but also how it can contribute to better results in the achievement of the latter. Within this framework, the article describes how a HRBA could contribute to redressing the main weaknesses of the MDGs and gives an overview of good practices and challenges in incorporating a HRBA into the MDG monitoring processes in Latin American and Caribbean countries, with a particular focus on the preparation of MDG reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]