Conditional Cash Transfers in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico: Impacts Upon Inequality

{
  "authors": [
    "Eduardo Zepeda",
    "Sergei Soares",
    "Rafael Guerreiro Osório",
    "Fábio Veras Soares",
    "Marcelo Medeiros"
  ],
  "type": "legacyinthemedia",
  "centerAffiliationAll": "",
  "centers": [
    "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace"
  ],
  "collections": [],
  "englishNewsletterAll": "",
  "nonEnglishNewsletterAll": "",
  "primaryCenter": "Carnegie Endowment for International Peace",
  "programAffiliation": "",
  "programs": [],
  "projects": [],
  "regions": [
    "North America",
    "South America"
  ],
  "topics": [
    "Economy"
  ]
}

In The Media

Conditional Cash Transfers in Brazil, Chile, and Mexico: Impacts Upon Inequality

Conditional Cash Tranfers have reduced inequality in three Latin American countries: Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. While they represent only a small share of total income, they have lead to a 21 percent drop in inequality in Brazil and Mexico, and to 15 percent reduction in Chile.

By Eduardo Zepeda, Sergei Soares, Rafael Guerreiro Osório, Fábio Veras Soares, Marcelo Medeiros

Published on Feb 1, 2009

Source: Estudios Economicos

In a new policy paper, Carnegie's Eduardo Zepeda and associates decompose changes in the Gini coefficient to investigate whether the Conditional Cash Tranfers (CCT) have had an inequality reducing effect in three Latin American countries: Brazil, Mexico and Chile. They conclude that CCT programs helped reducing inequality between the mid-1990s and the mid-2000s. The share of total income represented by the CCTs is very small, less than 1%. But as their targeting is outstanding, the equalizing impact of CCTs was responsible for about 21% of the fall in Brazilian and Mexican inequality figures. In Chile, the effect was responsible for around 15% of the reduction.

Economy North America South America

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

More Work from Carnegie Europe

Commentary
Strategic Europe
How Europe Can Survive the AI Labor Transition
Integrating AI into the workplace will increase job insecurity, fundamentally reshaping labor markets. To anticipate and manage this transition, the EU must build public trust, provide training infrastructures, and establish social protections.
Amanda Coakley
Commentary
Strategic Europe
Taking the Pulse: Can the EU Attract Foreign Investment and Reduce Dependencies?
EU member states clash over how to boost the union’s competitiveness: Some want to favor European industries in public procurement, while others worry this could deter foreign investment. So, can the EU simultaneously attract global capital and reduce dependencies?
Rym Momtaz, ed.
Commentary
Strategic Europe
Europe Falls Behind in the South Caucasus Connectivity Race
The EU lacks leadership and strategic planning in the South Caucasus, while the United States is leading the charge. To secure its geopolitical interests, Brussels must invest in new connectivity for the region.
Zaur Shiriyev
Commentary
Strategic Europe
The EU and India in Tandem
As European leadership prepares for the sixteenth EU-India Summit, both sides must reckon with trade-offs in order to secure a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement.
Dinakar Peri
Commentary
Strategic Europe
Taking the Pulse: Is the EU Too Weak to Be a Global Player?
Beset by an increasingly hostile United States, internal divisions, and the threat of Russian aggression, the EU finds itself in a make-or-break moment. U.S. President Donald Trump calls it a decaying group of nations headed by weak leaders. Is Europe able to prove him wrong?
Thomas de Waal

More Work from Carnegie Europe

Commentary

Strategic Europe

How Europe Can Survive the AI Labor Transition

Integrating AI into the workplace will increase job insecurity, fundamentally reshaping labor markets. To anticipate and manage this transition, the EU must build public trust, provide training infrastructures, and establish social protections.

Amanda Coakley

Commentary

Strategic Europe

Taking the Pulse: Can the EU Attract Foreign Investment and Reduce Dependencies?

EU member states clash over how to boost the union’s competitiveness: Some want to favor European industries in public procurement, while others worry this could deter foreign investment. So, can the EU simultaneously attract global capital and reduce dependencies?

Rym Momtaz, ed.

Commentary

Strategic Europe

Europe Falls Behind in the South Caucasus Connectivity Race

The EU lacks leadership and strategic planning in the South Caucasus, while the United States is leading the charge. To secure its geopolitical interests, Brussels must invest in new connectivity for the region.

Zaur Shiriyev

Commentary

Strategic Europe

The EU and India in Tandem

As European leadership prepares for the sixteenth EU-India Summit, both sides must reckon with trade-offs in order to secure a mutually beneficial Free Trade Agreement.

Dinakar Peri

Commentary

Strategic Europe

Taking the Pulse: Is the EU Too Weak to Be a Global Player?

Beset by an increasingly hostile United States, internal divisions, and the threat of Russian aggression, the EU finds itself in a make-or-break moment. U.S. President Donald Trump calls it a decaying group of nations headed by weak leaders. Is Europe able to prove him wrong?

Thomas de Waal