Papers by Henry Willebald
Boletín de Historia Económica, Asociación Uruguaya …, 2005
Documentos de Trabajo (DT-AEHE), 2021
Latin America is the most unequal region in the world and there is intense debate concerning the ... more Latin America is the most unequal region in the world and there is intense debate concerning the explanations and timing of such high levels of income inequality. Latin America was also the region, not including European Offshoots, which experienced the most rapid growth during the first globalization boom. It can, therefore, be taken as an interesting case of study regarding how globalization forces impinged on growth and income distribution in peripheral regions. This article presents a first estimate of income inequality in the
The paper makes an attempt to measure income inequality in Brazil between 1839 and 1939. Based on... more The paper makes an attempt to measure income inequality in Brazil between 1839 and 1939. Based on Census data on the occupational structure of the population in 1872 and 1920, different sources are used in order to assign income to different occupational groups and construct two benchmarks. Using available time series for income of a limited amount of occupational groups, an attempt is done to estimate the evolution of income inequality from 1839-1898. An alternative scenario is constructed giving place to structural change between 1872 and 1939. Our benchmark estimates show Gini-coefficients which we consider lower than what could be expected. In spite of it, inequality in Brazil was by 1870 rather high. Nevertheless, the trend between 1839 and 1898 was one of declining inequality. For the second half of this century, for which we have acceptable GDP estimates, decreasing inequality goes hand in hand with economic retardation. This economic retardation affected mainly the income of...
Las Perspectivas Economicas Y La Empresa Oikos, 1998
Australian Economic History Review, 2015
Settler economies are characterised by abundant natural resources, but these are not homogeneous ... more Settler economies are characterised by abundant natural resources, but these are not homogeneous between countries. There is very little literature about the economic development of settler economies that identifies differences within the club in terms of natural resources. We look for differences in energy endowments in New Zealand and Uruguay considering coal and suitable conditions for hydroelectric generation. New Zealand and Uruguay were similar in many ways but there were huge differences in income per capita levels. A 'modern' production structure requires sufficient energy supply at competitive costs and New Zealand's better energy conditions explain that difference.
Settler Economies in World History, 2013
The development trajectories of different settler economies varied significantly in the long run.... more The development trajectories of different settler economies varied significantly in the long run. This chapter aims to identify some crucial determinants in these divergent trends. It discusses three basic sets of ideas. First, there existed a group of countries - modern ‘settler societies’. Second, settler societies showed quite different economic performances through time, giving place to quite different economies. Third, economic performance is strongly related to patterns of specialization and structural change, and by the distribution of income and wealth. The chapter explores the idea that distribution could have an impact on the pattern of productive and trade specialization. In turn, productive and trade specialization were considered important factors to explain technological change, productivity growth and economic performance. The evidence presented shows that there is a positive relationship between inequality and the specialization in low value-added activities. Keywords:development paths; settler economies; settler societies; value-added activities
XIV International Economic History …, 2006
fcs.edu.uy
El objetivo de este trabajo es contribuir con la comprensión de la relación entre desempeño econó... more El objetivo de este trabajo es contribuir con la comprensión de la relación entre desempeño económico de largo plazo y el comportamiento de la distribución del ingreso y la riqueza, evaluando el proceso desde una perspectiva histórica y comparada. ... Se propone un marco ...
bcu.gub.uy
* Este trabajo fue elaborado en el marco de la investigación Desarrollo Económico y distribución... more * Este trabajo fue elaborado en el marco de la investigación Desarrollo Económico y distribución del ingreso. Un enfoque comparativo, 1870-2000, Facultad de Ciencias Sociales, Universidad de la República, Programa de Historia Económica y Social; Proyecto financiado por la ...
Boletín de Historia Económica Año III No 4 / Octubre de 2005 El objetivo de este trabajo es contr... more Boletín de Historia Económica Año III No 4 / Octubre de 2005 El objetivo de este trabajo es contribuir en la comprensión de la relación entre desempeño económico de largo plazo y el comportamiento de la distribución del ingreso y la riqueza, evaluando el proceso desde una perspectiva histórica y comparada. Para ello, es necesario contar con líneas argumentales que permitan articular, teórica y empíricamente, conceptos como los de equidad/inequidad, desarrollo/subdesarrollo, diferenciales entre regiones y actores, especialización productivo-comercial y demanda, productividad, innovación, así como la relevancia de estructuras institucionales de aliento o contención a la incorporación de conocimiento en la generación de valor económico.
Revista de Historia Económica / Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History, 2021
In this article, we discuss whether there was a single Latin American pattern of agricultural gro... more In this article, we discuss whether there was a single Latin American pattern of agricultural growth between 1950 and 2008. We analyse the sources of growth of agricultural production and productivity in ten Latin American countries. Our results show that the differences between these countries are too large to establish a single pattern for this region. However, certain common trends may be observed, such as the growing importance of labour productivity as a component of agricultural production growth and the increasing relevance of total factor productivity as a component of agricultural labour productivity growth.
RePEc: Research Papers in Economics, 2021
Se presentan estimaciones del valor agregado bruto de la administración pública, a precios corrie... more Se presentan estimaciones del valor agregado bruto de la administración pública, a precios corrientes y constantes, para el período 1870 - 1955. Las estimaciones realizadas, basadas en esfuerzos previos de estimación del valor agregado del sector, permiten corregir las series anteriores y, a partir de estas correcciones, abrir la posibilidad de ajuste de las series de Producto Interno Bruto para el período previo al sistema de cuentas nacionales. Empalmando las series históricas estimadas con las series oficiales de 1955 hasta el presente, se obtuvieron series continuas que cubren el período 1870 - 2017. Estas series son puestas a disposición de la comunidad de investigadores para su consideración, crítica y revisión.
This paper aims to present the methodology and sources used in the construction of the historical... more This paper aims to present the methodology and sources used in the construction of the historical estimates of the Gross Value Added (GVA) in Uruguay at the province level. Our period of analysis covers from the beginning of the 20th century to the 1970s, and we provide estimations corresponding to 1908, 1936, 1955 and 1975, which are complemented with available information for 1961 (BROU, 1965). In general, we follow the standard methodology of indirect approximation proposed in Geary & Stark (2002), which allows distributing the total sectoral GVA among the provinces considering the wage incomes as reference. However, and depending on the available statistical information for each year and economic activity, the methodology is adjusted, and we used alternative criteria of distribution. In some cases, the Geary-Stark method is modified, and we estimated the production (for instance, in agriculture) directly. This database provides new evidence to examine the regional economic perfo...
Settler economies are characterized by abundant natural resources, but natural capital is not hom... more Settler economies are characterized by abundant natural resources, but natural capital is not homogeneous between countries and it can produce different consequences in terms of economic performance. This paper discusses the effect of natural resources on economic performance as part of the debate about the “curse of natural resources hypothesis”. We consider energy natural resources and focus on two settler societies, New Zealand and Uruguay. There is very little literature about the economic development of settler economies that identifies differences within the “club” countries that have different natural resources. We look for differences in energy natural endowments, basically coal and suitable conditions for hydroelectric generation, to explain at least partially the different welfare levels between the two economies. In the nineteenth century and the early decades of the twentieth century, New Zealand and Uruguay were similar in many ways such as production structure, movemen...
… Latinoamericano de Historia Económica y 4as …, 2007
This paper argues that the patters of income and wealth distribution of the economies may explain... more This paper argues that the patters of income and wealth distribution of the economies may explain the productive and trade specialization in the long run. Two channels are considered to understand the relations between both processes: demand for goods and institutional and ...
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Papers by Henry Willebald