Indigenous people constitute a large portion of Latin America's population and suffer from widespread poverty. This book provides the first rigorous assessment of changes in socio-economic conditions among the region's indigenous people, tracking progress in these indicators during the first international decade of indigenous peoples (1994-2004). Set within the context of existing literature and political changes over the course of the decade, this volume provides a rigorous statistical analysis of indigenous populations in Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico and Peru, examining their poverty rates, education levels, income determinants, labour force participation and other social indicators. The results show that while improvements have been achieved in some social indicators, little progress has been made with respect to poverty.
'For any individual or organization seriously interested in the socio-economic status of indigenous peoples in Latin America, this book will serve as the supreme authoritative source of information for the next ten years. Working with the best available data on five Latin American countries, the authors have assembled a truly insightful documentation and analysis of significant trends in the political, economic, and social forces affecting Latin American indigenous populations.' - Ronald L. Oaxaca, University of Arizona, USA
'The book in hand is a manifestation that the Bank is doing something substantive to address one of the major roots of poverty in Latin America.' - George Psacharopoulos, formerly with the World Bank
'Indigenous Peoples, Poverty and Human Development in Latin America: 1994 - 2004 offers a sophisticated major advance in our understanding of the economic and social conditions of indigenous peoples. Their poverty is shown to be related to skill formation, and this is shown to be related to issues of language, access to and quality of schooling, health, political weakness, limited social protection, and discrimination. Sensible and realistic policy recommendations flow from the analysis. This volume should have a major impact on policy, as well as serve as a template for similar analyses of indigenous peoples in other regions, whether developed or less developed.' - Barry R. Chiswick, UIC Distinguished Professor, Research Professor andHead, Department of Economics, University of Illinois, USA
'The book in hand is a manifestation that the Bank is doing something substantive to address one of the major roots of poverty in Latin America.' - George Psacharopoulos, formerly with the World Bank
'Indigenous Peoples, Poverty and Human Development in Latin America: 1994 - 2004 offers a sophisticated major advance in our understanding of the economic and social conditions of indigenous peoples. Their poverty is shown to be related to skill formation, and this is shown to be related to issues of language, access to and quality of schooling, health, political weakness, limited social protection, and discrimination. Sensible and realistic policy recommendations flow from the analysis. This volume should have a major impact on policy, as well as serve as a template for similar analyses of indigenous peoples in other regions, whether developed or less developed.' - Barry R. Chiswick, UIC Distinguished Professor, Research Professor andHead, Department of Economics, University of Illinois, USA