Abstract

QUEVEDO, Hernando  and  QUEVEDO, María N.. INCOME DISTRIBUTION IN THE COLOMBIAN ECONOMY FROM AN ECONOPHYSICS PERSPECTIVE. Cuad. Econ. [online]. 2016, vol.35, n.69, pp.691-707.  Epub July 17, 2016. ISSN 0121-4772.  https://doi.org/10.15446/cuad.econ.v35n69.44876.

Recently, in econophysics, it has been shown that it is possible to analyze economic systems as equilibrium thermodynamic models. We apply statistical thermodynamics methods to analyze income distribution in the Colombian economic system. Using the data obtained in random polls, we show that income distribution in the Colombian economic system is characterized by two specific phases. The first includes about 90% of the interviewed individuals, and is characterized by an exponential Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution. The second phase, which contains the individuals with the highest incomes, can be described by means of one or two power-law density distributions that are known as Pareto distributions.

JEL: A12, C02, C49, D10, D31.

Keywords : Econophysics; income distribution; Colombian economy; Boltzmann-Gibbs distribution; Pareto distribution.

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