This paper presents a set of statistics that characterize the degree of income polarization in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). The study is based on a dataset of household surveys from 21 LAC countries in the period 1989-2004. Latin America is characterized by a high level of income...

Using panel data for Peru for the period 1994-2000, we found that increases in household welfare, as measured by changes in consumption, are larger when households receive two or more services jointly than when services are provided separately. Such increases appear to be more than proportional,...