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Income Shocks, Inequality, and Democracy

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  • Rainer Kotschy
  • Uwe Sunde

Abstract

In this paper, motivated by contradictory evidence on the effect of income on democracy, we investigate the hypothesis that it is income shocks – major income fluctuations relative to the trend – rather than marginal year‐on‐year variation in income levels that lead to non‐trivial changes in the quality of political institutions. Empirical results provide support for this hypothesis, and show how income inequality plays a crucial role in the effects of economic shocks on democracy. In particular, negative income shocks reveal a positive effect on democracy in countries with high inequality, and vice versa.

Suggested Citation

  • Rainer Kotschy & Uwe Sunde, 2021. "Income Shocks, Inequality, and Democracy," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(1), pages 295-326, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:scandj:v:123:y:2021:i:1:p:295-326
    DOI: 10.1111/sjoe.12398
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    Cited by:

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    2. repec:thr:techub:10025:y:2021:i:1:p:192-218 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Dario Debowicz & Alex Dickson & Ian A. MacKenzie & Petros G. Sekeris, 2023. "Income and the (eventual) rise of democracy," Discussion Papers Series 661, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    4. Halliki Kreinin & Ernest Aigner, 2022. "From “Decent work and economic growth” to “Sustainable work and economic degrowth”: a new framework for SDG 8," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 281-311, May.
    5. Andi Faisal Anwar & Angelina Putri Asnun & Abdul Wahab, 2021. "Measuring the Impact of Inclusive Economic Growth; Empirical Study of SDGs in Indonesia," Technium Social Sciences Journal, Technium Science, vol. 25(1), pages 192-218, November.
    6. Michael A. Nelson & Rajeev K. Goel, 2023. "Spillovers from gender equality onto economic equality: Evidence from 162 nations," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 35(6), pages 1365-1388, August.

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