This second issue for 2004 contains 8 new papers, including notable contributions from: Nancy Brune, Geoffrey Garrett, and Bruce Kogut on the global spread of privatization; and Mark P. Taylor and Elena T. Branson on asymmetric arbitrage and default premiums in the U.S. and Russian markets. Other papers in the issue look at German wage structures, contagion in equity markets, export orientation and productivity in Sub-Saharan Africa, the role of higher vs. basic education in economic development, and issues related to capital account liberalization.
Contains 15 papers, which were presented at the Fourth Meeting of the Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, Catania, Sicily, July 2011. This title includes measuring segregation, welfare and liberty, the use of influence functions in distributional analysis, and the axiomatic approach to multidimensional inequality.
This paper analyzes the extent of income inequality from a global perspective, its drivers, and what to do about it. The drivers of inequality vary widely amongst countries, with some common drivers being the skill premium associated with technical change and globalization, weakening protection for labor, and lack of financial inclusion in developing countries. We find that increasing the income share of the poor and the middle class actually increases growth while a rising income share of the top 20 percent results in lower growth—that is, when the rich get richer, benefits do not trickle down. This suggests that policies need to be country specific but should focus on raising the income share of the poor, and ensuring there is no hollowing out of the middle class. To tackle inequality, financial inclusion is imperative in emerging and developing countries while in advanced economies, policies should focus on raising human capital and skills and making tax systems more progressive.
Concerns about economic inequality can be dated back to the ancient Greece and in the Roman law (cf. Roemer 1996; World Bank 2006), and inequality has continued to be a subject of interest up to nowadays (an example can be found in Van Parijs 1995; 2015). Notwithstanding, the empirical interest on inequality vanished after the WWII. This was a reaction to the decline, and the following stagnation, that income inequality experienced in that period. In this regard, Aaron observed in 1978 that studying inequality were as exciting as watching the grass grow. However, as also Figure 1 shows, since the 1980s the vast majority of industrialized countries experienced rising income inequality. The sharpest increase in relative terms has been observed in northern Europe, traditionally characterized by low levels of inequality, but an even greater increase in absolute terms has been registered in countries reporting the highest levels of inequality: such as the United States and the United Kingdom (Atkinson, Rainwater and Smeeding 1995; Gottschalk and Smeeding 2000; OECD 2008; 2011; Brandolini 2009; Brandolini and Smeeding 2009; Esping-Andersen 2009). Consequently, as Atkinson observed in 1997, income distribution has been 'brought in from the cold' (cf. also Jenkins and Micklewright 2007; Salvedra, Nolan and Smeeding 2009). Indeed, from the 1980s onwards the interest in economic inequality has been revitalized, and represents now one of the core concerns and an important field of research of many disciplines, including sociology, economics, and demography. This book is inserted in this recent debate, and it will mainly profit from the theoretical and empirical contributions of the last three decades.
The OECD Employment Outlook provides an annual assessment of labour market developments and prospects in Member countries. Each issue contains an overall analysis of the latest market trends and short-term forecasts, and examines key labour market developments. Reference statistics are included.
Die Ungleichheit der Lohneinkommen in Deutschland verschärft sich seit geraumer Zeit deutlich. Umso mehr muss zumindest die Gleichheit der Chancen in unserer Gesellschaft gewährleistet sein. Die Höhe des Einkommens sollte - aus gesellschaftlichen wie ökonomischen Gründen - von der individuellen Leistungsfähigkeit abhängen, nicht vom Status der Eltern. Doch wie ist es um die Gleichheit der Chancen in Deutschland tatsächlich bestellt? Ist das hiesige Einkommensgefüge so durchlässig, dass auch Menschen aus sozial schwachen Familien eine realistische Aufstiegschance haben? Wie hoch ist in Deutschland die ökonomische Mobilität zwischen sowie innerhalb von Generationen? Und wie schneidet Deutschland im Vergleich zu anderen Ländern ab? Daniel Schnitzlein untersucht diese Fragen mit neuen methodischen Ansätzen und analysiert die Ursachen für das unterschiedliche Ausmaß an ökonomischer Mobilität im internationalen Vergleich. Publikationssprache: Englisch
Mobility and Inequality Trends is the 30th volume of Research on Economic Inequality and features insightful and original papers from the 9th Society for the Study of Economic Inequality (ECINEQ) meeting.
Irene Becker and Richard Hauser "Bringing Income Distribution in From The Cold" was the title Anthony B. Atkinson gave his Presidential Address to the Royal Economic Society in 1996. This provocative formulation was intended to draw attention to the way in which the subject of income distribution long has been marginalised in the field of economics (Atkinson 1997). In recent years, however, scientific interest in matters of personal income distribution has been growing. One reason for this recent concern stems from the political sphere: The factors of reinforced competition between countries due to the globalisation of markets and European integration, high unemployment rates and demographic changes necessitate reforms of labour markets, tax systems and social security systems. These reforms will affect both allocation and distribution, so that reliable information on both areas is needed to devise balanced political programs. Another reason for the burgeoning literature on personal income distribution is the improved availability of data on individual income, which are a major prerequisite for detailed analyses of distribution topics. Last but not least, the development of powerful computers, advanced statistics, econometric packages and extended micro-simulation models enables researchers both to work with huge individual data sets to describe and explain the personal distribution of income and to simulate the effects of political (social and economic) programs. The volume at hand is based on some of the research advances in this field during the last decade.
World Inequality Report 2018 is the most authoritative and up-to-date account of global trends in inequality. Researched, compiled, and written by a team of the world’s leading economists of inequality, it presents—with unrivaled clarity and depth—information and analysis that will be vital to policy makers and scholars everywhere. Inequality has taken center stage in public debate as the wealthiest people in most parts of the world have seen their share of the economy soar relative to that of others, many of whom, especially in the West, have experienced stagnation. The resulting political and social pressures have posed harsh new challenges for governments and created a pressing demand for reliable data. The World Inequality Lab at the Paris School of Economics and the University of California, Berkeley, has answered this call by coordinating research into the latest trends in the accumulation and distribution of income and wealth on every continent. This inaugural report analyzes the Lab’s findings, which include data from major countries where information has traditionally been difficult to acquire, such as China, India, and Brazil. Among nations, inequality has been decreasing as traditionally poor countries’ economies have caught up with the West. The report shows, however, that inequality has been steadily deepening within almost every nation, though national trajectories vary, suggesting the importance of institutional and policy frameworks in shaping inequality. World Inequality Report 2018 will be a key document for anyone concerned about one of the most imperative and contentious subjects in contemporary politics and economics.
