Search results for " inequality."
showing 10 items of 809 documents
The Aggregate and Distributional Effects of Financial Globalization: Evidence from Macro and Sectoral Data
2018
We take a fresh look at the aggregate and distributional effects of policies to liberalize international capital flowsâfinancial globalization. Both country- and industry-level results suggest that such policies have led on average to limited output gains while contributing to significant increases in inequalityâthat is, they pose an equityâefficiency trade-off. Behind this average lies considerable heterogeneity in effects depending on country characteristics. Liberalization increases output in countries with high financial depth and those that avoid financial crises, while distributional effects are more pronounced in countries with low financial depth and inclusion and where libera…
Income Inequality and Technology Diffusion: Evidence from Developing Countries*
2011
We study the effect of within-country income inequality on the diffusion of mobile phones using data on market penetration in a sample of developing countries from 1985 to 1998. Mobile phones are an example of international technology, originating in industrialized countries and diffusing worldwide. We find that income inequality, as measured by the income share of the highest earning deciles, has a positive effect on the early diffusion of mobile phones and that the estimated effect becomes greater when a measure of agricultural endowments is used as an instrument. The instrumental variable results are robust to weak instruments. Our findings suggest that the diffusion of new technologies …
Nonlinearity in intergenerational income transmission: A cross-country analysis
2016
Abstract The aim of this paper is to explore nonlinearity in intergenerational income transmission. We use a set of occupational tables in different countries to test nonlinearity. We also empirically address how policy variables can affect nonlinearity. Our findings suggest that concavity is supported in those societies with less credit constraints, but with more poverty and income inequality; education has an increasing effect on convexity.
Depression of the deprived or eroding enthusiasm of the elites: What has shifted the support for international trade?
2020
Abstract We use the 2003 and 2013 waves of the International Survey Program (ISSP) in order to explore the change in people’s attitudes that may be behind the recent backlash against globalization. We show that the average support for international trade has decreased in many – albeit not all – countries, and we demonstrate that these changes are related to the depth and length of the global financial crisis of 2008/09 as well as the evolution of income inequality. Moreover, our results document a declining support of those individuals who are likely to benefit from international trade: the young, high-skilled and well-off. We show that this “eroding enthusiasm of the elites” is empirically…
On factor decomposition of cross-country income inequality: some extensions and qualifications
2001
Abstract In a recent paper in this journal Duro and Esteban [Econom. Lett. 60 (1998) 269] have proposed a factor decomposition of the Theil [Economics and Information Theory, Amsterdam, North-Holland, 1967] index of inequality over per capita incomes into the (unweighted) sum of the inequality indexes of the factors in order to measure the contribution of each individual factor to the overall inequality. The purpose of this little note is to extend and qualify the meaning of such a decomposition, to show that the decomposition also holds for another Theil [Economics and Information Theory, Amsterdam, North-Holland, 1967], index of inequality and that both decompositions offer qualitatively …
How do Banking Crises Impact on Income Inequality?
2012
We show that banking crises have an important effect on income distribution: inequality increases before banking crisis episodes and sharply declines afterwards. We also find that, while a large government size does not per se seem to reduce inequality, a rise in financial depth (i.e. better access to credit provided by the banking sector) contributes to a more equal distribution of income.
An Empirical Analysis of the Determinants of Perceived Inequality
2017
Perception of inequality is important for the analysis of individuals' motivations and decisions and for policy assessment. Despite the broad range of analytic gains that it grants, our knowledge about measurement and determinants of perception of inequality is still limited, since it is intrinsically unobservable, multidimensional, and essentially contested. Using a novel econometric approach, we study how observable individual characteristics affect the joint distribution of a set of indicators of perceived inequality in specific domains. Using data from the International Social Survey Programme, we shed light on the associations among these indicators and how they are affected by covaria…
Redistribution, selection, and trade
2017
Abstract This paper examines the distributional effects of international trade in a general equilibrium model with heterogeneous agents and a welfare state redistributing income. The redistribution scheme is financed by a progressive income tax and gives the same absolute transfer to all individuals. Ceteris paribus, international trade leads to an increase in income per capita but also to higher income inequality on two fronts. Inter-group inequality between managers and workers increases, and intra-group inequality within the group of managers goes up as well. We show that for a given tax rate, there is an endogenous increase in the size of the welfare state that works against the increas…
Do we value mobility?
2015
Is there a trade-off between people's preference for income equality and income mobility? Testing for the existence of such a trade-off is difficult because mobility is a multifaceted concept. We analyse results from a questionnaire experiment based on simple precise concepts of income inequality and income mobility. We fnd no direct trade-off in preference between mobility and equality, but an indirect trade-off, applying when more income mobility can only be obtained at the expense of some income inequality. Mobility preference - but not equality preference - appears to be driven by personal experience of mobility.
Human capital and income inequality revisited
2021
This paper revisits the relationship between human capital and income inequality, using an updated data set on human capital inequality and a novel database on earnings inequality. We find an inver...