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The Paradox of Peruvian Growth: The Evolution of Territorial Disparities and Regional Policy

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Regional Problems and Policies in Latin America

Part of the book series: Advances in Spatial Science ((ADVSPATIAL))

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Abstract

The extraordinarily good performance of the Peruvian economy in the last 10 years, in the midst of a worldwide crisis, has been termed by many “the Peruvian miracle”, given the spectacular outcomes shown by diverse economic variables, such as the rate of growth of GDP, the low rate of inflation and of unemployment, the increase in exports and the solidity of the financial system.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    According to data from ECLAC, the 2011 Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC 2011).

  2. 2.

    Various studies demonstrate the limitations of the national Household Surveys (ENAHO) for the calculation of the Gini index, as they do not capture a significant part of the incomes of the richest households. See, for the Peruvian economy the studies by Yamada and Castro (2006), Figueroa (2010) and Escobal and Ponce (2008), which obtain Gini coefficient values notably higher than those officially published, approximately 0.5 in 2009).

  3. 3.

    See UNDP (2011).

  4. 4.

    This is understood to be a dramatic improvement in the economic conditions of a country. Chirinos (2008) offers a definition of economic miracle on the basis of the analysis of the upper quintile of the maximum rates of GDP growth in 1961–2002. It is assumed that the initial conditions constitute an accurate predictor of future growth and it is foreseen that there exists a strong probability that the Peruvian economy will constitute an economic miracle in the next 10 years.

  5. 5.

    However, the limitations of household surveys must not be forgotten; such surveys are the basis of the estimations of the Gini coefficient and of income per quintile/decile, which according to diverse studies underestimate the true value of inequality as they do not adequately register the income of the richest segments of the population.

  6. 6.

    Such indicators are of limited use because they do not consider the multidimensional nature of regional growth and the true dynamics and structural problems of subnational realities, above all in countries with high rates of inequality in the distribution of income (Gallo and Garrido 2006: Gallo 2009).

  7. 7.

    As examples in other countries, see the works of Azzoni et al. (2001); Figueroa and Herrero (2003); Herrero et al. (2010).

  8. 8.

    The most dynamic sectors, such as mining and services, are scarcely exchanged within the country and among regions. Mining exports practically all its production and services are not tradable.

  9. 9.

    The principal export product of Peru is gold, which has represented almost 20 % of total exports in at least the last 5 years (according to customs data). This is due above all to the enormous rise in its price, which in the context of the international crisis has become the safest refuge as a reserve value.

  10. 10.

    For 1970, the relation between urban and rural GDP per capita was 3–1. Although the quotient between the two fell by almost half for 2010 (1.8), rural GDP per capita continues to be low (around 4,000 soles at constant 1994 prices).

  11. 11.

    This occurs because the average difference in income between two individuals corresponds to the double of the Gini index as a percentage of average income (e.g.: a Gini coefficient of 0.4 signifies that the average difference in income between two individuals is 80 % of the average income) (Atkinson 1983).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Economics and Business Management Department, University of Alcala, Madrid, Spain

    María Teresa Gallo-Rivera & Rubén Garrido-Yserte

  2. Catholic University of Peru, Lima, Peru

    Efraín Gonzales de Olarte & Juan Manuel del Pozo-Segura

Authors
  1. María Teresa Gallo-Rivera
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  2. Rubén Garrido-Yserte
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  3. Efraín Gonzales de Olarte
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  4. Juan Manuel del Pozo-Segura
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Correspondence to María Teresa Gallo-Rivera .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Economia Aplicada, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas, Alcalá de Henares - Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Juan R. Cuadrado-Roura

  2. Universidad Adolfo Ibánez, Vina del Mar, Chile

    Patricio Aroca

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Gallo-Rivera, M.T., Garrido-Yserte, R., de Olarte, E.G., del Pozo-Segura, J.M. (2013). The Paradox of Peruvian Growth: The Evolution of Territorial Disparities and Regional Policy. In: Cuadrado-Roura, J., Aroca, P. (eds) Regional Problems and Policies in Latin America. Advances in Spatial Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-39674-8_13

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