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Determinants of global income inequality: concerns and evidence about the neoliberal paradigm

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Resumo:This paper analyses the main drivers of global income inequality while testing some of the most relevant economic theories on inequality evolution. We run xed e ects regressions on four di erent income inequality measures, using a panel of 157 countries, for the period 1960-2015. We nd evidence that, while labor market reforms and unemployment were two upturning drivers of inequality, governments have an important rebalancing role, despite their decreased size. Furthermore, al- though social and political globalization reduced inequality, overall globalization and the widening of nancial systems increased inequality. These ndings suggest that the 1980s transition from post-war regulated capitalism to neoliberal capitalism led to a worldwide upsurge of inequality within countries. The e ect of liberalization on inequality is con rmed when we perform a causal analysis using the European Eastern Bloc transition of the 1990s as a quasi-experiment.
Autores principais:Mergulhão, Alexandre Prazeres
Assunto:Income inequality Inequality extraction ratio Augmented kuznet´s curve Country fixed effects Difference-in-differences
Ano:2017
País:Portugal
Tipo de documento:dissertação de mestrado
Tipo de acesso:acesso aberto
Instituição associada:Universidade Nova de Lisboa
Idioma:inglês
Origem:Repositório Institucional da UNL
Descrição
Resumo:This paper analyses the main drivers of global income inequality while testing some of the most relevant economic theories on inequality evolution. We run xed e ects regressions on four di erent income inequality measures, using a panel of 157 countries, for the period 1960-2015. We nd evidence that, while labor market reforms and unemployment were two upturning drivers of inequality, governments have an important rebalancing role, despite their decreased size. Furthermore, al- though social and political globalization reduced inequality, overall globalization and the widening of nancial systems increased inequality. These ndings suggest that the 1980s transition from post-war regulated capitalism to neoliberal capitalism led to a worldwide upsurge of inequality within countries. The e ect of liberalization on inequality is con rmed when we perform a causal analysis using the European Eastern Bloc transition of the 1990s as a quasi-experiment.