Redistribution and development in Latin America: A quantile regression approach

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between redistributive efforts and human development in 12 Latin American countries over the period 2000–2021. With the aim of evaluating the link between both variables throughout the distribution the analysis is based on quantile regression. Overall, the results suggest that greater redistribution is associated with higher development. This result holds for all ranges of the distribution and is robust to different specifications. The analysis of the redistributive effect of taxes and government transfers is extended to the different dimensions of development— health, education and economy—, finding that education is the component that is most significantly affected by increases in redistribution. Positive coefficients are also obtained for the other two components, although they are only significant at the centre of the distribution in the case of life expectancy, and at high levels of per capita income.