世界银行-拉丁美洲的企业规模、发展与不平等：一个尾巴的故事（英）-2023.10-31页_551kb

Summary

• Research Objective: The paper examines the business size distribution and its relationship with income inequality in Latin America and other regions using employment surveys.

• Key Findings:

  • Latin America's business size distribution is heavily skewed toward small firms and self-employment, with firms of 10 or more employees accounting for only 32% of employment, compared to 70% in advanced economies.
  • The lowest-income workers are disproportionately concentrated in self-employment and micro-enterprises, which have lower productivity, contributing to higher inequality in Latin America.
  • The correlation between business size and individual earnings is stronger in Latin America than in advanced economies, but earnings gaps are smaller in larger firms relative to the median.
  • Decomposition shows that the allocation of workers to low-productivity business categories (self-employment and micro-enterprises) significantly exacerbates inequality in Latin America.
  • There is a tight correlation between GDP per capita and the share of workers in larger firms, but accounting for self-employment and micro-enterprises strengthens this correlation.

• Policy Implications: Addressing barriers to firm growth, including market power, is critical for reducing inequality and boosting productivity. Comprehensive data on all business categories, including informal firms, is necessary for accurate analysis.