Latin American countries experienced a significant reduction in income inequality at the turn of the twenty-first century. From the early 2000s to around 2012, the average Gini coefficient fell from 0.51 to 0.47. The period of falling inequality coincided with leftist presidential candidates achieving electoral victories across the region: by 2009, 11 of the 17 countries had a leftist president—the so-called Pink Tide. Using a difference-in-differences design, a range of econometric models, inequality measurements, and samples, this study finds evidence that leftist governments lowered income inequality faster than non-leftist regimes, increasing the income share captured by the first 7 deciles at the expense of the top 10 percent. The analysis suggests that this reduction was achieved by increasing social pensions, minimum wages, and tax revenue.

拉丁美洲国家在 21 世纪之交经历了收入不平等的显着减少。从2000年代初到2012年左右，平均基尼系数从0.51下降到0.47。不平等程度下降的时期恰逢左翼总统候选人在整个地区取得选举胜利：到 2009 年，17 个国家中有 11 个国家出现了左翼总统——即所谓的粉红潮。本研究使用双重差分设计、一系列计量经济学模型、不平等测量和样本，发现证据表明左翼政府比非左翼政权更快地降低了收入不平等，增加了前 7 个十分位数的收入份额前 10% 的费用。分析表明，这种减少是通过增加社会养老金、最低工资和税收来实现的。