Inequality and Globalization: A Review Essay

Abstract

As normally measured, “global inequality” is the relative inequality of incomes found among all people in the world no matter where they live. Francois Bourguignon and Branko Milanovic have written insightful and timely books on global inequality, emphasizing the role of globalization. The books are complementary: Milanovic provides an ambitious broad-brush picture, with some intriguing hypotheses on the processes at work; Bourguignon provides a deep and suitably qualified economic analysis. This paper questions the thesis of both books—that globalization has been a major driving force of inequality between or within countries. The paper also questions the robustness of the evidence for declining global inequality, and notes some conceptual limitations of standard measures in capturing the concerns of many observers in the ongoing debates about globalization and the policy responses. ( JEL D31, D63, E25, F61, F63)

Türkiye de Bölgelerarası Sektörel Verimliliğin Analizi - The Analysis of Interregional Sectoral Productivity in Turkey

“…Particularly income, the measurement of the distribution of wealth and the welfare losses are predominant in the studies carried out. Some examples of international literature are: Robinson et al, 1985;Braun, 1988;Jordá and Fullerton, 2005;Jordá and Sarabia, 2015;Sun et al, 2015;Du et al, 2015;Lakner and Milanovic, 2016;Ravallion, 2017;Atems and Shand, 2018. Some examples of national literature are: Limanlı and Yamak, 2014;Çiftçi, 2015a, 2015b The location coefficient is the most widely used statistical method for evaluating sectoral Specialisation among regions, which was developed by Florence in 1939 (Figueiredo et al, 2009, p. 856) This coefficient measures the accumulation of employment in any sector or measure relative to other regional units.…”

“…(2015) ile Du ve Diğ (2015) Çin'de gelir, elektrik, gaz harcamalarının yıllara göre dağılımlarının analizini endeks vasıtasıyla gerçekleştirmiştir. Lakner ve Milanovic (2016) ve sonrasında Ravallion (2017) küresel gelir dağılımının 1988-2008 arasındaki değişimini analiz etmede endeksten yararlanmıştır. Atems ve Shand (2018) 1989 arasında ABD'nde eyaletler arasında gelir dağılımı ve girişimcilik ilişkisini analiz ettiği çalışmasında endeksten yararlanmıştır.…”

Global Development, Converging Divergence and Development Studies: A Rejoinder

“…Privatization of provision, as well as growing income inequalities, have affected within‐country inequalities for health and education. Educational inequalities have in turn been proposed as significant, yet often neglected, factors behind increases in income inequality within countries (Ravallion, : 631).…”

Examining interrelation between global and national income inequalities

“…Some of them (e.g. Ravallion, 2018) underline the role of domestic reforms and policies; they also claim that technology and knowledge transfer do not necessarily require deep trade and financial integration.…”

“…This hypothesis is questioned by many scholars (see e.g. Ravallion, 2018) who believe there is still sufficient room for domestic policies to correct excessive income inequalities. • The same effect is caused by the relative ease to move business activity (at least its formal residence) across borders to lower-tax and less-regulated jurisdiction (tax and regulatory arbitrage).…”