it is argued that this has not been the only cause however as inequality has also been falling in countries that are semiindustrialized or heavily dependent on remittances they suggest that a situation could be occurring in which sectoral composition heavily influenced as it is by naturalresourcecentred economies is generating greater relative demand for lowskilled workers thereby narrowing the gap in returns on education rather than a sign of development being reconciled with equality this would be a warning that the combination of stagnating productivity and the regions specialization pattern are sending out signals that discourage educational progression and capability development while this evidence is not yet conclusive and the debate is still open it is necessary to consider this possible scenario and assess the potential implications of this interpretation of the regions recent decline in inequality