Evolution of Disparities in Latin America’s Economic and Human Development. Analysis of HDI and its Components

This paper aims to analyze the growth and convergence of human development in Latin American countries, grouped in areas of economic interest, through the hybrid Human Development Index for the period 1970-2010. We find that all groups of Latin-American countries have higher levels of human development than the world average, mainly due to social variables, being below the average in per capita income. The analysis of sigma and beta convergence shows a decrease of disparities in hybrid HDI across Latin America to common steady states until early 2000. The hybrid HDI components responsible for this convergence have been life expectancy for all groups of countries, and educational variables for the Andean Community (Ancom) and the Central American and Caribbean ones. In GDP per capita, all Latin American countries seem to have converged to different steady states.