scholarly journals FINANCE AND INEQUALITY IN EIGHT ASIAN COUNTRIES: DOES SIZE MATTER?

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-56
Author(s):  
Mansor Ibrahim
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Alternative Model ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
The Philippines ◽  
Infrastructure Development ◽  
Asian Countries ◽  
Equal Income ◽  
Size Threshold ◽  
Size Matter

The present paper seeks to assess the implications of increasing financial sector size on income inequality in eight Asian countries - Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, and South Korea.  Adopting a panel data approach, it document a non-linear relation between income inequality and financial sector size in these countries.  More precisely, the increasing financial sector size is favourable to equal income distribution only up until a size threshold, beyond which further expansion of the financial sector can worsen income distribution.  The analysis further highlights the income-equalizing effect of economic growth and infrastructure development and the income un-equalizing effect of trade and government expenditures.  These results are robust to alternative model specifications and to exclusion of a country at a time from the sample.

scholarly journals Inequality and the Financial System— The Case of Germany

2015 ◽  
Vol 54 (4I-II) ◽  
pp. 585-608
Author(s):  
Daniel Detzer
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Financial System ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Varieties Of Capitalism ◽  
Personal Income ◽  
General Increase

Income inequality is rising in Germany. This is true for both functional as well as personal income distribution. After reunification in 1990, a general increase in inequality can be observed. This trend becomes particularly pronounced in the 2000s. In the literature on financialisation a link between the developments in the financial sector, the financing behaviour of firms, and income distribution is established. Also, in the varieties of capitalism literature a connection between the prevailing institutions, among them the financial institutions, and the tendency of an economy towards higher or lower inequality is made. This study attempts to investigate if changes in the financial sphere may have caused the higher inequality in Germany. There are different ways in which the financial sector could have contributed to the increased inequality. Growth of the financial sector or large increases in incomes paid in this sector could lead to higher inequality directly. Alternatively, different behaviour of financial institutions and new financial actors could affect distribution in the non-financial sector so that the financial sector indirectly affects inequality.

The State(s) of Inequality: Changes in Income Distribution in the U.S. States and Census Divisions, 1976-2008

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul L Menchik
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
College Graduates ◽  
High School Graduates ◽  
Similar Degree ◽  
Annual Data ◽  
Jel Codes ◽  
Services Sector ◽  
Transfer Payments ◽  
Equal Income

We study the changes in the distribution of income from 1976 to 2008 in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, and the nine Census Divisions, using annual data from the Current Population Survey. Most jurisdictions experienced an increase in household income inequality, although there are considerable differences in the precise patterns of disequalization. Many of the jurisdictions with the largest increases in inequality were in the Northeast, while many of the jurisdictions with small increases in inequality (or even small decreases) were in the South, the Plains, and the Rocky Mountains. In most jurisdictions, we document a pattern of divergence between the top and the middle of the income distribution, but we do not find a similar degree of divergence between the middle and bottom of the distribution. Thus the increases in overall inequality in most jurisdictions were dominated by changes in the upper half of the income distribution. Jurisdictions that started with a higher level of inequality tended to have lower rates of inequality growth. On the other hand, jurisdictions with more rapid disequalization during the first half of the period under study were not more likely to have more rapid disequalization during the second half. Our regression analysis indicates that jurisdictions with a higher proportion of high-school graduates tend to have a more equal income distribution, while jurisdictions with a higher proportion of college graduates tend to be more unequal. Jurisdictions with a relatively larger share of output from the services sector tend to experience greater inequality. A higher unemployment rate tends to add to inequality, while jurisdictions in which a relatively higher percentage of income comes from transfer payments tend to exhibit lower income inequality. JEL Codes: D63, R11, R12

Financial Development and Income Inequality in Vietnam: An Empirical Analysis

2012 ◽  
pp. 5-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hoi Chu Minh ◽  
Hoi Le Quoc
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Financial Development ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Financial Sector ◽  
Joint Effects ◽  
The Relationship

The pattern of income distribution can be influenced by financial evelopment. Using provincial data, this paper empirically investigates the relationship between financial development and income inequality in Vietnam from 2002 to 2008. The results show that financial development has a positive impact on reducing income inequality, which is consistent with the bulk of theoretical and empirical research. The results also confirms that financial development when it interacts with education has joint-effects on reducing income inequality. We also find no evidence supporting the Greenwood-Jovanovic hypothesis of an inverted U-shaped relationship between the financial sector of development and inequality.

scholarly journals Income inequality and intragenerational income mobility in Sweden from 1983 to 2010: Following two birth cohorts

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Birgitta Jansson
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Income Mobility ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Income Gap ◽  
Income Distributions ◽  
Left Behind ◽  
Income Development ◽  
Equal Income

AbstractSweden has been known for having one of the most equal income distributions in the world. However, in recent decades, Sweden has experienced increasing income inequality. An alternative way of measuring the development of inequality is to study and compare the income development within and between two birth cohorts according to gender and different positions of income distribution. The focus in this paper is to study how individual disposable personal income has changed by aging and at various positions of the income distribution, as well as the gender disposable income gap and intragenerational income mobility. Three positions of the income distribution were chosen: percentile 10; median; and percentile 99. Two cohorts, including all individuals born in 1948 and 1958, were tracked from 35 years of age to 53 years of age – with two 18-year overlapping periods, 1983–2000, and 1993–2010. The results show a complex and multifaceted image of the development of income inequality and mobility, within and between the two birth cohorts. Especially male low-income earners, born 1958, have been left behind. Income mobility differ according to gender where women have increased mobility in the bottom quintile and decreased in the top quintile, men experienced the opposite. When modelling mobility education have decreased to contribute to an upward mobility, especial for cohort born 1958. Taking all the results together, the development of increasing income inequality in Sweden is apparent.

The Solidarity Solution

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kristi A. Olson
Keyword(s):  
Income Distribution ◽  
Gender Wage Gap ◽  
Measurement Problem ◽  
Wage Gap ◽  
Empirical Literature ◽  
Ronald Dworkin ◽  
Easy Task ◽  
Political Philosopher ◽  
Equal Income ◽  
Ideal Part

What is a fair income distribution? The empirical literature seems to assume that equal income would be fair, but the equal income answer faces two objections. First, equal income is likely to be inefficient. This book sets aside efficiency concerns as a downstream consideration; it seeks to identify a fair distribution. The second objection—pointed out by both leftist political philosopher G. A. Cohen and conservative economist Milton Friedman—is that equal income is unfair to the hardworking. Measuring labor burdens in order to adjust income shares, however, is no easy task. Some philosophers and economists attempt to sidestep the measurement problem by invoking the envy test. Yet a distribution in which no one prefers someone else’s circumstances to her own, as the envy test requires, is unlikely to exist—and, even if it does exist, the normative connection between the envy test and fairness has not been established. The Solidarity Solution provides a novel answer: when someone claims that her situation should be improved at someone else’s expense, she must be able to give a reason that cannot be rejected by a free and equal individual who regards everyone else as the same. Part I develops the solidarity solution and shows that rigorous distributive implications can be derived from a relational ideal. Part II uses the solidarity solution to critique the competing theories of Ronald Dworkin, Philippe Van Parijs, and Marc Fleurbaey. Finally, part III identifies insights for the gender wage gap and taxation.

Philanthropy and Income Inequality

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Anderson ◽  
Ing-Haw Cheng ◽  
Harrison Hong
Keyword(s):  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Tax Policies ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Alternative Models ◽  
Tax Relief ◽  
Bill Gates ◽  
Welfare Implications ◽  
Tax Cuts

Bill Gates recently argued that philanthropy by households at the top of the income distribution might help ameliorate income inequality, and that tax policies should take this into account. Much of the research in economics on giving has been focused on middle-income households, so we know very little about the motives for giving by the very rich. We provide some initial evidence on what drives the giving of the richest Americans. First, we extrapolate anthropological evidence on how status concerns might influence philanthropy. Second, since the richest own a significant amount of equity, we use the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Act of 2003 to see how their giving responded to unanticipated tax cuts, particularly for dividends. Third, we consider the welfare implications of philanthropy as opposed to alternative models for redistributing the wealth of the extremely rich.

scholarly journals Income Distribution and Trade Pattern

2020 ◽  
Vol 71 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Sugata Marjit ◽  
Reza Oladi ◽  
Punarjit Roychowdhury
Keyword(s):  
Social Psychology ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Behavioral Economics ◽  
Trade Pattern ◽  
Industry Trade

AbstractMotivated by recent insights from behavioral economics and social psychology, we present a theory of trade that seeks to explain inter-industry trade between countries that are similar in their production sides, but differ in their income distribution. By assuming status-dependent preferences that are non-homothetic, we show that income inequality differential can be a basis for inter-industry trade between otherwise similar economies.

The effects of debt restructurings on income inequality in the developing world

2021 ◽  
pp. 135406612110014
Author(s):  
Glen Biglaiser ◽  
Ronald J. McGauvran
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Panel Data ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Income Distribution ◽  
Government Spending ◽  
Tax Reform ◽  
Social Spending ◽  
The Poor ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Impact

Developing countries, saddled with debts, often prefer investors absorb losses through debt restructurings. By not making full repayments, debtor governments could increase social spending, serving poorer constituents, and, in turn, lowering income inequality. Alternatively, debtor governments could reduce taxes and cut government spending, bolstering the assets of the rich at the expense of the poor. Using panel data for 71 developing countries from 1986 to 2016, we assess the effects of debt restructurings on societal income distribution. Specifically, we study the impact of debt restructurings on social spending, tax reform, and income inequality. We find that countries receiving debt restructurings tend to use their newly acquired economic flexibility to reduce taxes and lower social spending, worsening income inequality. The results are also robust to different model specifications. Our study contributes to the globalization and the poor debate, suggesting the economic harm caused to the less well-off following debt restructurings.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document