Inequality, Leverage and Crises
Inequality, Leverage and Crises

Author: Mr.Michael Kumhof

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2010-11-01

Total Pages: 39

ISBN-13: 1455210757

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The paper studies how high leverage and crises can arise as a result of changes in the income distribution. Empirically, the periods 1920-1929 and 1983-2008 both exhibited a large increase in the income share of the rich, a large increase in leverage for the remainder, and an eventual financial and real crisis. The paper presents a theoretical model where these features arise endogenously as a result of a shift in bargaining powers over incomes. A financial crisis can reduce leverage if it is very large and not accompanied by a real contraction. But restoration of the lower income group's bargaining power is more effective.

Finance, Growth, and Public Policy
Finance, Growth, and Public Policy

Author: Mark Gertler

Publisher: World Bank Publications

Published: 1991

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13:

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A thriving financial market depends not only on a prudent regulatory regime but also on having enough creditworthy borrowers. Policies in the real sector- macroeconomic, public finance, and trade policies- that directly stimulate growth and stability should be pursued in concert with financial reform.

Inequality and Growth
Inequality and Growth

Author: Theo S. Eicher

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 0262050692

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Essays exploring the relationship between economic growth and inequality and the implications for policy makers.

Credit Markets with Differences in Abilities
Credit Markets with Differences in Abilities

Author: Mr.Se-Jik Kim

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 1994-04-01

Total Pages: 36

ISBN-13: 1451972962

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This paper addresses the growth, welfare, and distributional effects of credit markets. We construct a general equilibrium model where human capital is the engine of growth and individuals differ in their education abilities. We argue that the existence of credit markets encourages specialization, by which individuals choose during their youth to work or to receive formal education. This specialization unambiguously increases growth and welfare. The model also shows that in economies with high (low) average level of education abilities, the opening of credit markets induces a more disperse (equal) income distribution.

Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality
Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality

Author: Ms.Era Dabla-Norris

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2015-06-15

Total Pages: 39

ISBN-13: 1513547437

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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.

Income Distribution in Macroeconomic Models
Income Distribution in Macroeconomic Models

Author: Giuseppe Bertola

Publisher: Princeton University Press

Published: 2014-09-28

Total Pages: 439

ISBN-13: 0691164592

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This book looks at the distribution of income and wealth and the effects that this has on the macroeconomy, and vice versa. Is a more equal distribution of income beneficial or harmful for macroeconomic growth, and how does the distribution of wealth evolve in a market economy? Taking stock of results and methods developed in the context of the 1990s revival of growth theory, the authors focus on capital accumulation and long-run growth. They show how rigorous, optimization-based technical tools can be applied, beyond the representative-agent framework of analysis, to account for realistic market imperfections and for political-economic interactions. The treatment is thorough, yet accessible to students and nonspecialist economists, and it offers specialist readers a wide-ranging and innovative treatment of an increasingly important research field. The book follows a single analytical thread through a series of different growth models, allowing readers to appreciate their structure and crucial assumptions. This is particularly useful at a time when the literature on income distribution and growth has developed quickly and in several different directions, becoming difficult to overview.

Recursive Macroeconomic Theory
Recursive Macroeconomic Theory

Author: Lars Ljungqvist

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 1120

ISBN-13: 9780262122740

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A significant new edition of a text that offers both tools and sample applications; extensive revisions and seven new chapters improve and expand upon the original treatment.

Household Leverage and the Recession
Household Leverage and the Recession

Author: Callum Jones

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2018-08-30

Total Pages: 51

ISBN-13: 1484374983

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We evaluate and partially challenge the ‘household leverage’ view of the Great Recession. In the data, employment and consumption declined more in states where household debt declined more. We study a model where liquidity constraints amplify the response of consumption and employment to changes in debt. We estimate the model with Bayesian methods combining state and aggregate data. Changes in household credit limits explain 40 percent of the differential rise and fall of employment across states, but a small fraction of the aggregate employment decline in 2008-2010. Nevertheless, since household deleveraging was gradual, credit shocks greatly slowed the recovery.

Sovereign Risk, Fiscal Policy, and Macroeconomic Stability
Sovereign Risk, Fiscal Policy, and Macroeconomic Stability

Author: Giancarlo Corsetti

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2012-01-01

Total Pages: 56

ISBN-13: 1463977077

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This paper analyzes the impact of strained government finances on macroeconomic stability and the transmission of fiscal policy. Using a variant of the model by Curdia and Woodford (2009), we study a "sovereign risk channel" through which sovereign default risk raises funding costs in the private sector. If monetary policy is constrained, the sovereign risk channel exacerbates indeterminacy problems: private-sector beliefs of a weakening economy may become self-fulfilling. In addition, sovereign risk amplifies the effects of negative cyclical shocks. Under those conditions, fiscal retrenchment can help curtail the risk of macroeconomic instability and, in extreme cases, even stimulate economic activity.

Links Between Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: A Survey
Links Between Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: A Survey

Author: Ms. Valerie Cerra

Publisher: International Monetary Fund

Published: 2021-03-12

Total Pages: 54

ISBN-13: 1513572660

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Is there a tradeoff between raising growth and reducing inequality and poverty? This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the complex links between growth, inequality, and poverty, with causation going in both directions. The evidence suggests that growth can be effective in reducing poverty, but its impact on inequality is ambiguous and depends on the underlying sources of growth. The impact of poverty and inequality on growth is likewise ambiguous, as several channels mediate the relationship. But most plausible mechanisms suggest that poverty and inequality reduce growth, at least in the long run. Policies play a role in shaping these relationships and those designed to improve equality of opportunity can simultaneously improve inclusiveness and growth.