The document seeks to shed light on Chile’s performance in terms of income distribution for the 1973-2010 period. This being said, the authors claim that since the 1970s, Chile has exhibited a highly skewed income distribution; the country’s income distribution levels worsened notably during the 1970s-80s, however, a significant improvement was made in the first half of the 1990s, due to the introduction of better economic and social policies. In order to asses these claims, the researchers introduce statistical data provided by the University of Chile’s Employment Survey.

The paper proceeds as follows. After a brief introductory chapter, the second section tackles Chile’s evolution in term of income inequality during the neoliberal reforms undertaken in the 1973-90 period, under Pinochet’s dictatorship. Meanwhile, section three analyzes Chile’s democratic governments since the 1990s up to the global crisis in 2008, under the light of income distribution. Finally, chapter four evaluates the contagion of the global financial crisis, its effects on Chile’s inequality levels and the country’s policy responses, whilst chapter five offers some concluding remarks.

To conclude, the authors suggest that Chile’s policymaker should seek to introduce active macroeconomic policies, in order to achieve better levels of income distribution and economic development. In order to achieve this, Chile requires profound microeconomic reforms, featuring the development of capital markets, long-term financing channels and better educational quality.  

The document is available in English