Did Partial Globalization Increase Inequality? The Case of the Latin American Periphery, 1950-2000

Inequality is an important threat to the globalization of the world economy that we experience today. This contribution uses the coefficient of height variation as a measure of inequality. This indicator covers not only wage recipients, but also the selfemployed, the unemployed, housewives, children, and other groups who may not participate in a market economy, for the period 1950–79, for which income inequality data is mostly unavailable or inconsistent. It turns out that within-country inequality is higher in time periods of greater openness. This result is confirmed for the time period 1950–2000, and a much broader model. (JEL I 12, I 32, N 33)