تورم و نابرابری درآمدی در کشورهای توسعه یافته
1- Introduction
2- Literature Review
3- Data and Methods
5- Empirical Results
6- Conclusion
References
Introduction
A key open question in analyzing policy responses to income inequality is why economic growth would decrease income inequality in developed countries (DCs) but increase income inequality in developing countries or less developed countries (LDCs)? What is the nature of the relationship between income inequality and economic growth, and other related macroeconomic variables? Kuznets (1955) shows how income inequality would increase until a critical threshold level of income is attained, and after reaching the threshold income inequality begins to decrease. Kuznets (1955) predicts that as economies develop and the level of income increases, income inequality will first rise, then reaches a maximum, and then falls after a specific critical threshold development stage and income level. Kuznets’s (1955) claim is based on both cross-country (a panel of countries including United States, England, and Germany) and time series data. Kuznets proposed the idea of the "inverted U-shaped hypothesis" of income inequality (Kuznets, 1955; 1963), which is consistent with the Lewis dual economy model (Lewis, 1954). On the other hand, inflation is considered to be as a purely monetary phenomenon that influences a country’s income inequality level in different ways. Since David Hume (1711-1776), it has long been believed that wages lag inflation (Mayer, 1980). Therefore, one mechanism through which inflation can increase income inequality is by shifting income away from wage earners towards profits (Laidler & Parkin, 1975; Fischer & Modigliani, 1978). Historically over the past few decades, and especially since the global financial crisis in 2008, income inequality has increased in most developed and many developing countries reflecting a range of external factors like globalization and its consequences as well as internal factors like monetary and fiscal policy affecting economic growth (OECD, 2013; IMF, 2014). The driving idea is that there is a typical trade-off between equality and economic growth (Okun, 1975). However, the findings of some recent research studies question this conclusion.