Unlocking the black box: A comprehensive meta-analysis of the main determinants of within-region income inequality

The Effect of International Trade on Income Inequality: A Multidimensional Panel Data Analysis

“…When the literature is examined, there are a number of studies that reveal that opening countries to foreign trade reduces income inequality in accordance with the findings of this study (Le, 2020;Tung et al, 2020;Barros and Teixeira, 2021). However, there are also studies suggesting that foreign trade increases inequality in countries where domestic markets are not homogeneous in terms of access to the world market and commercial costs (Hirte et al, 2020).…”

“…Literatür incelendiğinde, ülkelerin dış ticarete açılmasının gelir eşitsizliğini azalttığını ortaya koyan bir dizi çalışmaya rastlanmaktadır (Le, 2020;Tung vd., 2020;Barros and Teixeira, 2021). Buna rağmen, dünya pazarına erişim ve ticari maliyetler açısından yurtiçi piyasaların homojen olmadığı ülkelerde dış ticaretin eşitsizliği artırdığını ileri süren çalışmalar da bulunmaktadır (Hirte vd., 2020).…”

The Role of Banks in Shaping Income Inequality: A Within‐Country Study

“…Regarding studies investigating the determinants of within-region income inequality, the most frequent variables are regional development, human capital, manufacturing/industry share, unemployment, financial development, and trade openness. Barros and Teixeira (2021) conclude their meta-analysis of 33 studies analyzing the determinants of within-region income inequality by stating that "financial development, fiscal policies (local government expenditures/revenues) and public sector size, contribute substantially for reducing within-region income inequality, particularly in lower income settings. Human capital and trade openness also tend to mitigate within region income inequality albeit in a smaller extent" (p. 83).…”

“…While the large body of literature agrees that financial development boosts economic growth (e.g. Levine, 1997, 2005), there is less consensus regarding whether financial development provides equal benefits to the whole population or whether it disproportionately helps the rich or the poor (for recent reviews concerning the theoretical and empirical literature on the relationship between finance and inequality, see Demirguc‐Kunt and Levine, 2009; Sehrawat and Giri, 2015; Seven and Coskun, 2016; Wang and Takuji, 2016; Thang et al ., 2019; D'Onofrio et al ., 2019; Demir et al ., 2022; Barros and Teixeira, 2021). Clearly, if financial development exacerbates income inequality, this effect might even neutralize the benefits for poor people exerted by more developed financial markets on economic growth.…”