Inequality and Growth

Bénabou, Roland

doi:10.2307/3585187

Cited by 426 publications

(503 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(78 reference statements)

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“…The number of individuals per country-quantile were calculated based on population data from a number of sources. 15 The income levels per capita, per country-quantile, were calculated based on GDP data. GDP for the various country-years, in 2005 US$ at PPP, were obtained from the World Bank's databank.…”

Section: Estimating Global Inequality Indices From Country Quantile Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Interpersonal Inequality: Trends and Measurement

2014

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This paper discusses different approaches to the measurement of global interpersonal in equality. Trends in global interpersonal inequality during are measured using data from UNU-WIDER's World Income Inequality Database. In order to better understand the trends, global interpersonal inequality is decomposed into within-country and between-country inequality. The paper illustrates that the relationship between global interpersonal inequality and these constituent components is a complex one. In particular, we demonstrate that the changes in China s and India s income distributions over the past 30 years have simultaneously caused inequality to rise domestically in those countries, while tending to reduce global inter-personal inequality. In light of these findings, we reflect on the meaning and policy relevance of global vis-à-vis domestic inequality measures.Keywords: global interpersonal inequality, inequality, inequality measurement JEL classification: D31, D63, E01, O15 Acknowledgements: We are grateful to seminar participants at the universities of Helsinki, Oxford, Bielefeld, and Beijing Normal University, for their helpful comments on earlier versions of this paper. All the errors are ours. Global interpersonal inequality Trends and measurementMiguel Niño-Zarazúa y , Laurence Roope z and Finn Tarp x ABSTRACT This paper discusses di¤erent approaches to the measurement of global interpersonal inequality. Trends in global interpersonal inequality during 1975-2005 are measured using data from UNU-WIDER's World Income Inequality Database. In order to better understand the trends, global interpersonal inequality is decomposed into within-country and between-country inequality. The paper illustrates that the relationship between global interpersonal inequality and these constituent components is a complex one. In particular, we demonstrate that the changes in China's and India's income distributions over the past 30 years have simultaneously caused inequality to rise domestically in those countries, while tending to reduce global interpersonal inequality. In light of these …ndings, we re ‡ect on the meaning and policy relevance of global vis-à-vis domestic inequality measures.

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Section: Estimating Global Inequality Indices From Country Quantile Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Global Interpersonal Inequality: Trends and Measurement

2014

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“…First, is the literature on public capital and endogenous growth, some of which is referred to earlier. Second, are papers studying distribution and growth with imperfect credit markets, (e.g., Loury, 1981, Galor and Zeira, 1993, Aghion and Bolton, 5 1997, Aghion, et al, 1999, Bénabou, 1996, 2000, 2002, and Seshadri and Yuki, 2004). …”

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confidence: 99%

Productive government spending and its consequences for the growth–inequality tradeoff

Getachew

Turnovsky

2015

Research in Economics

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This paper investigates the effects of productive government spending on the relationship between growth and inequality in an economy subject to idiosyncratic production shocks and heterogeneous endowments. Assuming lognormal distributions, we derive tractable closed form solutions describing the equilibrium dynamics. We show how the effect of government investment on the equilibrium dynamics of both inequality and growth depends crucially upon the elasticity of substitution between public and private capital in production. This has important consequences for the growth-and welfaremaximizing rates of government investment. Finally, we supplement our theoretical analysis with numerical simulations, calibrated to approximate the productive characteristics of a real world economy. With the empirical evidence strongly supporting the complementarity between public and private capital, our simulations suggest that conclusions based on the commonly employed Cobb-Douglas production function may be seriously misleading.Key words: Government investment; Idiosyncratic shocks; Growth; Inequality JEL Classification: D31, O41 Revised versionJune 2015*The paper has benefited from comments received on earlier versions from seminar participants at the University of Durham and the University of Pretoria. We also thank Santanu Chatterjee for useful suggestions. Research for this paper was carried out while Getachew was visiting the University of Washington in the Fall of 2013. Turnovsky"s research was supported in part by the Van Voorhis endowment at the University of Washington.**Corresponding author: sturn@u.washington.edu 1 IntroductionThe role of public investment in infrastructure as a source of economic growth continues to be widely debated in both developing and advanced economies, with different economies adopting different policy options. Several emerging-market countries including India, China, and Brazil have undertaken extensive public investment, to which their high growth rates of recent years may at least in part be attributed. In contrast, several European countries have reduced public spending, as they have pursued austerity measures intended to deal with concerns related to their rising debt levels.Contemporaneously with these diverse policies toward public investment, we have witnessed increasing income inequality, both in emerging markets and in most OECD countries. This raises the important question that we address in this paper, namely the relationship between public investment directed toward growth enhancement and its consequences for income inequality.Interest in the relationship between public investment, output, and growth has a long history, dating back to Arrow and Kurz (1970), who examined it in the context of a neoclassical economy.Beginning with Barro (1990), an extensive literature has evolved addressing the issue in an endogenous growth framework, with a general consensus that government spending on infrastructure can yield significant productivity gains and thus enhance growth. See e.g. F...

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“…Corcoran and Evans (2010) also find a positive association between inequality and local expenditures on public education across US school districts. Bénabou (1996), Kenworthy and Pontusson (2005), however, point to mixed results especially for cross-country analysis. publicly provided health care, but rather whether and how they respond through the use of privately financed care when the public health care system moves further away from their own preferences.…”

Section: Previous Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Rising inequality and the implications for the future of private insurance in Canada

Stabile

Isabelle

2018

HEPL

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Income and wealth inequality have risen in Canada since its low point in the 1980s. Over that same period we have also seen an increase in the amount that Canadians spend on privately financed health care, both directly and through private health insurance. This paper will explore the relationship between these two trends using both comparative data across jurisdictions and household-level data within Canada. The starting hypothesis is that the greater the level of inequality the more difficult it becomes for publicly provided insurance to satisfy the median voter. Thus, we should expect increased pressure to access privately financed alternatives as inequality increases. In the light of these implications, the paper considers the implications for the future of private insurance in Canada.

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Inequality and Growth

Cited by 426 publications

References 28 publications

Global Interpersonal Inequality: Trends and Measurement

Global Interpersonal Inequality: Trends and Measurement

Productive government spending and its consequences for the growth–inequality tradeoff

Rising inequality and the implications for the future of private insurance in Canada

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