Abstract
The growing concern about inequality and lack of equal opportunities for economic and social development of the population are issues that have generated wide debate. This discussion became even more important after the international financial crisis of 2008 which was widely studied (Stiglitz, 2012, 2015; Piketty, 2008, 2013). Historically, Peru has been one of the countries with major economic inequality of South America, measured by Gini’s coefficient, which has fluctuated about 0.6. Based on the studies of Mendoza, Leyva and Flower (2011), Yamada and Castro (2006) and Figueroa (1993). This article develops a descriptive and econometric analysis, with the aim of studying the evolution and main determinants of inequality in Peru. To this end, it was estimated the Gini coefficient adjusted by national accounts. Additionally, we used a model of globalization and inequality developed by the IMF (WEO, 2007), to analyze the effect of the process of globalization on the distribution of the income. Finally, it was applied a simple dynamic time series model in order to study whether GDP growth can explain the variability of distribution. The results show that when we adjusted the Gini coefficient, the level of inequality is bigger than the estimated by a classical methodology. Finally, we can say that the evidence found is in line with results obtained in previous studies.