World Bank2012-06-182012-06-182005-10https://hdl.handle.net/10986/8329This report attempts to analyze selected topics, chosen in collaboration with the Argentine authorities, regarding the inter-linkages between economic growth, income distribution and poverty, as well as the respective roles of these factors in explaining the historical underperformance of the Argentine economy. The report aims to identify relevant issues for policy formulation and further economic work. Its emphasis is on longer-term structural factors which are thought to determine productivity and income distribution. The report is organized as follows. Chapter 2 briefly reviews the time-dynamics o f economic growth, poverty and inequality in Argentina. Sections of the chapter study the evolution of poverty and inequality. It is noted that inequality has increased dramatically, though not monotonically, since 1990 and, notably, increases in inequality were observed in periods of both growth and recession. Chapter 3 reviews the latest episode o f economic volatility in Argentina, a period that started with the sharp decline o f economic activity in 2002 and continued with a recovery since 2003. Special attention is paid to the impact of this recent volatility on economic growth, poverty and inequality. The sections study the social impact of the recent crisis and recovery; employing different methodologies to test whether the recent recovery was pro-poor. It also analyzes the recession and recovery at the sector level, while identifying the economic sectors that contributed most to poverty reduction during the latest upturn o f the economy. Chapter 4 then turns to a selected set of government policies that could help to deliver high economic growth. The section highlights the idea that macroeconomic stability is crucial to reducing poverty rates since the empirical evidence indicates that economic crises disproportionately affect the poor. Another major lesson from this section is that tax policy is not a good tool for redistribution in developing countries. Further it analyzes the potential impact of various trade initiatives on employment opportunities for relatively unskilled workers in Argentina; and presents the results o f a recent study on the returns to education for workers across income groups. Finally, it reviews some key issues involved in ensuring a favorable environment for private sector development.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOABSOLUTE POVERTYABSOLUTE SENSEAGGREGATE GROWTHANNUAL GROWTHAVERAGE GROWTHAVERAGE INCOMEAVERAGE RATEBUSINESS CYCLEBUSINESS CYCLESCAPITAL ACCUMULATIONCAPITAL MARKETSCOMPETITIVENESSCONSUMER PRICE INDEXCOUNTRY CASECOUNTRY REGRESSIONSCROSS-COUNTRY REGRESSIONDEBTDECOMPOSITION ANALYSISDEVALUATIONDEVELOPING COUNTRIESDISTRIBUTION EFFECTECONOMIC ACTIVITYECONOMIC CRISISECONOMIC EXPANSIONECONOMIC GROWTHECONOMIC HISTORIANSECONOMIC HISTORYECONOMIC LITERATUREECONOMIC MANAGEMENTECONOMIC PERFORMANCEECONOMIC POLICIESECONOMIC POLICYECONOMIC RECOVERYECONOMIC REFORMECONOMICSEDUCATION SYSTEMSEDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENTEMPIRICAL ANALYSISEMPIRICAL LITERATUREEMPIRICAL RESEARCHEMPIRICAL STUDIESEMPIRICAL WORKEXPENDITURE POLICIESEXPLAINING CHANGESEXPORTSEXTREME POVERTYFINANCIAL POLICIESFINANCIAL SECTORFISCAL CONSTRAINTSFISCAL POLICIESFUTURE RESEARCHGDPGDP PER CAPITAGINI COEFFICIENTGINI INDEXGLOBAL ECONOMYGROSS VALUEGROWTH EFFECTGROWTH EPISODEGROWTH PATTERNGROWTH PAY-OFFGROWTH PERFORMANCEGROWTH PERIODGROWTH PROCESSGROWTH RATEGROWTH RATESHIGH COSTHIGH GROWTHHIGH INCOMEHIGH INCOME INEQUALITYHIGH VOLATILITYHISTORICAL DATAHUMAN CAPITALIMPOVERISHMENTIMPROVING INFRASTRUCTUREINCIDENCE ANALYSISINCOME DISTRIBUTIONINCOME INEQUALITYINCOMESINCREASED INEQUALITYINEQUALITY INDICATORSINEQUALITY MEASURESINFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTINTEREST RATESINTERNATIONAL TRADEINVESTMENT CLIMATELABOR FORCELABOR MARKETSLATIN AMERICANLIVING CONDITIONSLIVING STANDARDSLONG-RUN GROWTHMACROECONOMIC BALANCEMACROECONOMIC ENVIRONMENTMACROECONOMIC INSTABILITYMACROECONOMIC PERFORMANCEMACROECONOMIC STABILITYMEDIUM TERMNATURAL RESOURCESNEGATIVE IMPACTOUTPUT GROWTHOUTPUT VOLATILITYOVERVALUATIONPER CAPITA INCOMEPERSONAL INCOMEPERSONAL INCOME TAXESPOLICY DEBATEPOLICY IMPLICATIONSPOLICY OPTIONSPOOR HOUSEHOLDSPOOR INDIVIDUALSPOSITIVE CORRELATIONPOSITIVE EFFECTSPOSITIVE IMPACTPOVERTY CHANGESPOVERTY HEADCOUNTPOVERTY INCREASESPOVERTY LEVELSPOVERTY LINEPOVERTY LINESPOVERTY MEASURESPOVERTY RATEPOVERTY RATESPOVERTY REDUCTIONPRIVATE SECTORPRO-POORPRO-POOR GROWTHPRODUCTIVITY GROWTHPROGRESSIVE TAX SYSTEMPROPERTY RIGHTSPROPERTY TAXESPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC INFRASTRUCTUREPUBLIC INVESTMENTPUBLIC SECTORREAL GDPREAL WAGESREDUCING INEQUALITYREDUCING POVERTYREGRESSION ANALYSESRELATIVE PRICESRELATIVE WAGESRISING INEQUALITYSAFETY NETSSECTORAL COMPOSITIONSIGNIFICANT REDUCTIONSIGNIFICANT RELATIONSHIPSKILL PREMIUMSKILLED LABORSKILLED WORKERSSOCIAL SAFETYSOCIAL SAFETY NETSSOCIAL SPENDINGTARGETED SOCIAL SAFETY NETSTOTAL FACTOR PRODUCTIVITYTRADE LIBERALIZATIONTRADE OPENNESSTRADE POLICIESTRADE POLICYUNEMPLOYMENTVALUE ADDEDWARWEALTHWTOWorld Bank10.1596/8329