The Technology Elite of Latin America
Part 3: Demographic Characteristics
In this section, we will look at the demographic characteristics of the technology elite of Latin America. Our first question is: Where do they live? According to the following table, the incidence of the technology elite is highest in Brazil (15%) and lowest in the balance of South America (4% average in Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay). These are not dramatic differences. More interestingly, the incidence of the technology elite in the major urban areas is 12%, again not dramatically higher.
| Demographic variable / class | % Technology Elite |
| Geographical Region Argentina Brazil Chile Colombia Mexico Venezuela Balance of Central America / Caribbean Balance of South America |
11% 15% 8% 6% 8% 8% 6% 4% |
| Major Urban Areas | 12% |
(source: Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998)
Our next table deals with the demographic characteristics of the heads of household of the technology elite. The incidence is highest among the better educated segment, as well as among professionals and managers.
| Demographic variable / class | % Technology Elite |
| Sex of Head of Household Male Female |
12% 5% |
| Age of Head of Household 18-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55+ |
5% 7% 10% 15% 10% |
| Occupation of Head of Household Owner/Manager Professional Office worker Sales Self-employed operator Service worker Manual laborer Temporary/day worker |
30% 23% 16% 11% 11% 10% 5% 2% |
| Education of Head of Household Less than 6 years More than 6 years, less than 12 years 12 years or more |
5% 8% 21% |
| Head of Household is College Graduate | 33% |
(source: Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998)
We then come to the most powerful discriminators of the technology elite. In our next table, we have a couple of measures of socio-economic well-being.
|
Demographic variable / class |
% Technology Elite |
| Socio-Economic
Level Level A Level B Level C Level D |
56% 20% 3% 0% |
| Annual Household Income (US$) Under $600 $600 to $3,000 $3,000 to $6,000 $6,000 to $12,000 $12,000 to $18,000 $18,000 to $24,000 $24,000 to $36,000 $36,000 to $60,000 $60,000 to $120,000 More than $120,000 |
2% 3% 4% 11% 23% 31% 45% 52% 59% 79% |
(source: Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998)
The incidence of the technology elite is a dramatic correlate of socio-economic well-being. We note that our definition for Socio-Economic score is quite similar to the technology score here. In the two definitions, there are many common items (e.g. automobile, clothes washer, clothes dryer, dishwasher, etc.), but the two scores are not identical. The Socio-Economic Level purports to reflect social standing as well as economic well-being. Here, the social standing is represented by the education and occupation of the head of household. But the notion of social standing has no place in the technology score, although a super-educated person is most likely a member of the technology elite, but that is not an absolute certainty. Furthermore, certain aspects of economic affluence (e.g. domestic helpers and number of rooms) have no technological aspects.
On account of the overlap in the items between the socio-economic score and technology score, we would expect to see a high correlation. In the Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998 study, the Pearson correlation coefficient is 0.81, which is highly statistically significant. In the graph below, we show the histogram for these two scores.
(source: Los Medios y Mercados de Latinoamérica 1998)
However, we note that the annual household income is a completely separate question that is not referred to at all in the definitions of either socio-economic scores or technology scores. Yet, the strength of the correlation of household income and technology elitism is the strongest of all the demographic variables, with 79% incidence within households with annual income over $120,000.
 Caracas, Venezuela (photo credit: Deborah Levy) |
 Bogotá, Colombia (photo credit: Deborah Levy) |
This is therefore very strong evidence that economic inequality has replicated itself in technological inequality as well. The gulf between the have's and the have-not's is not shrinking.
OTHER DISCUSSIONS ABOUT THE TECHNOLOGY ELITE OF LATIN AMERICA
(posted by Roland Soong on 1/14/00)
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