Latin America's Emerging Middle Classes Economic Perspectives

What does it mean to be middle-class in Latin America? How is the middle class changing? What are the implications for economic development? Many look to the emergence of a middle class as a sign of Latin America's success in reducing poverty and inequality, a claim this book confirms. Political and business leaders hope that a booming middle class will drive economic growth and support progressive but not revolutionary political platforms, lending economic and democratic stability to countries long wracked by volatility. The contributors document the remarkable emergence of this middle group in Latin America (whose measurement turns out not to be an easy task). However, the authors consider it premature to declare middle-class Latin Americans ready to serve as a motor for economic growth or guarantors of democratic consolidation. Smart policies can nevertheless protect middle classes from poverty and allow them to fulfil the hopes invested in them.

Jeffrey Dayton-Johnson is Professor and Dean at the Monterey Institute of International Studies, USA. He previously led the Latin American Economic Outlook team at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and taught at Dalhousie University, Canada. His research interests include Latin America, economic development, and public policy. He edited the Oxford Handbook of Latin American Political Economy (with J. Santiso, 2012).

Preface
1. Making Sense of Latin America's Middle Class; J. Dayton-Johnson
2. Inequality, Mobility and Middle Classes in Latin America; J. Azevedo, L.F. López -Calva, N. Lustig, E. Ortiz-Juárez
3. Latin America's Global Middle Class: A Preference for Growth Over Equality; M. Cárdenas, H. Kharas and C. Henao
4. Brazil's New Middle Classes: The Bright Side of the Poor; M. Neri
5. Who is the Latin American Middle Class? Relative-Income and Multidimensional Approaches; F. Castellani, G. Parent, and J. Zenteno Gonzales
6. Covering the Uncovered: Labor Informality, Pensions and the Emerging Middle Class in Latin America; C. Daude, J.R. de Laiglesia, Á. Melguizo
7. Business Sector Responses to the Rise of the Middle Class; L. Casanova and H. Renck
8. Feeling Middle Class and Being Middle Class; What Do Subjective Perceptions Tell Us?; E. Lora and J. Fajardo González
9. Political Attitudes of the Middle Class; The Case of Fiscal Policy, C. Daude, H. Gutiérrez, Á. Melguizo