Life is Unfair in Latin America, but Does It Matter for Growth?

I analyze the effect of inequality on economic growth in Latin America, where inequality is measured as the area of family farms as a percentage of the total area of agricultural holdings. Using data from 18 Latin American countries between 1960 and 2004, I find that inequality has a nonlinear effect on economic growth. Overall, for the countries included in this analysis, the share of family farms has a positive significant effect on economic growth. These findings are robust to controlling for several factors, using a different indicator of inequality (land Gini), and addressing for endogeneity