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Abstract:
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This dissertation focuses on trends in pay inequality in the formal sectors of Argentina , Brazil , and Chile from the early 1990s into the latter part of the first decade of the new millennium . In -depth , single -country studies of inequality of each country of study seek to understand and explain the sources of movement in inequality in each country , relating changes in inequality to shifts in the relative roles of key economic sectors and geographic jurisdictions . In addition to these single -country studies of inequality , this dissertation develops a regional perspective on the dynamics of inequality by synthesizing findings from the three countries of study , identifying both commonalities and differences . This dissertation also evaluates the relationship between trends in inequality and the macroeconomic policies and factors that influence them . By eschewing the inequality of household incomes and focusing instead on measures of inequality in the underlying distribution of pay , this dissertation presents empirical evidence that fluctuations in countries' inequality levels are intrinsically related to macroeconomic factors . This dissertation applies Theil's T statistic , which belongs to the family of generalized entropy inequality measures , to develop new measures of economic inequality . The calculations presented in this dissertation are performed on data obtained from semi -aggregated datasets in which employment and average wage data organized by economic sectors and geographical jurisdictions , as derived from administrative records . Sectoral analysis shows that the changing levels of overall inequality are explained to a great extent by variations in the performance of a reduced number of "key" high -pay sectors , especially finance , extractive industry and civil service . In terms of the dynamics of geographic distribution , the role of these key sectors is observed in the driving role played by key geographic units : those composed of , or containing , the countries' main metropolitan centers , and those with high concentrations of economic activity in extractive industries . |