The Dynamics of Poverty in Bolivia
Abstract
La presente investigación tiene como objetivo identificar los principales factores que explican la dinámica de la pobreza en Bolivia. La hipótesis de partida es que la pobreza está ligada a una baja movilidad social. La movilidad social puede ser definida como la igualdad de oportunidades, es decir, la probabilidad de que los individuos puedan mejorar su posición social independientemente de su posición de origen. Consideramos que la baja movilidad social genera un círculo vicioso de pobreza en el cual los hogares que fueron pobres ayer son pobres hoy, y, con alta probabilidad, los hogares de sus hijos también serán pobres. Nuestra hipótesis es que la reproducción de la pobreza se explica, en gran medida, por dos factores: la discriminación étnica y la discriminación por género, elementos que actúan profundizando la baja movilidad social.
The research aims to the understanding of the main factors that explain the dynamics of poverty in Bolivia. A main working hypothesis is that poverty is strongly linked to low social mobility levels. Social mobility can be defined as the equality of opportunities, or in other words, the probability that somebody can reach a better social position independently of his position of origin. We rely in the concept that low social mobility generates a vicious poverty circle in which households that were poor yesterday, will see that their children are poor today, and with high probability, their children's children will be poor tomorrow. Indeed, our research hypothesis is that the dynamics of the phenomenon (the vicious circle) is explained fundamentally by two self reinforcing factors - ethnic and gender discrimination; which in turn lower the social mobility levels in a dynamic framework. This is proved partially along this research, especially for the subsets of indigenous women.
The research aims to the understanding of the main factors that explain the dynamics of poverty in Bolivia. A main working hypothesis is that poverty is strongly linked to low social mobility levels. Social mobility can be defined as the equality of opportunities, or in other words, the probability that somebody can reach a better social position independently of his position of origin. We rely in the concept that low social mobility generates a vicious poverty circle in which households that were poor yesterday, will see that their children are poor today, and with high probability, their children's children will be poor tomorrow. Indeed, our research hypothesis is that the dynamics of the phenomenon (the vicious circle) is explained fundamentally by two self reinforcing factors - ethnic and gender discrimination; which in turn lower the social mobility levels in a dynamic framework. This is proved partially along this research, especially for the subsets of indigenous women.
Description
No. 11