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Income growth and inequality: The threshold effects of trade and financial openness

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  • Lim, G.C.
  • McNelis, Paul D.

Abstract

Empirical studies about whether trade and financial openness lead to favourable Gini outcomes yield mixed results and theoretical work suggest that the effects likely depend on the stage of economic development and the nature of the production structure. This paper proposes a model of a small open economy with two key components – a component with heterogeneous agents earning a range of incomes and a component with traded and non-traded goods and associated financial linkages. Simulations show that both trade and financial openness can lead to improvements in both income growth and equality once an economy crosses a critical threshold in capital intensity and in the use of imported intermediate goods in the production process.

Suggested Citation

  • Lim, G.C. & McNelis, Paul D., 2016. "Income growth and inequality: The threshold effects of trade and financial openness," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 403-412.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:58:y:2016:i:c:p:403-412
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2016.05.010
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    Cited by:

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    2. Ni, Niannian & Liu, Yulin, 2019. "Financial liberalization and income inequality: A meta-analysis based on cross-country studies," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-1.
    3. Jung, Jae Wook & Kim, Kyunghun, 2021. "Financial Market Integration and Income Inequality," East Asian Economic Review, Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, vol. 25(2), pages 175-203, June.
    4. Yajie Liu & Feng Dong, 2020. "Corruption, Economic Development and Haze Pollution: Evidence from 139 Global Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-22, April.
    5. Le, Thai-Ha & Nguyen, Canh Phuc & Su, Thanh Dinh & Tran-Nam, Binh, 2020. "The Kuznets curve for export diversification and income inequality: Evidence from a global sample," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 21-39.
    6. Koudalo, Yawovi M.A. & Wu, Ji, 2022. "Does financial liberalization reduce income inequality? Evidence from Africa," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    7. Kennedy, Tom & Smyth, Russell & Valadkhani, Abbas & Chen, George, 2017. "Does income inequality hinder economic growth? New evidence using Australian taxation statistics," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 119-128.
    8. Anping Chen & Nicolaas Groenewold, 2019. "Macroeconomic shocks in China: Do the distributional effects depend on the regional source?," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 62(1), pages 69-97, February.
    9. Enrico D'Elia & Roberta De Santis, 2018. "Growth divergence and income inequality in OECD countries:the role of trade and financial openness," Working Papers 5, Department of the Treasury, Ministry of the Economy and of Finance.
    10. Baiardi, Donatella & Morana, Claudio, 2018. "Financial development and income distribution inequality in the euro area," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 40-55.
    11. Ni, Niannian & Liu, Yulin & Zhou, Hui, 2022. "Financial openness, capital rents and income inequality," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    12. Seyi Saint Akadiri & Ada Chigozie Akadiri, 2018. "Growth and Inequality in Africa: Reconsideration," Academic Journal of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance, Banking and Accountancy Bucharest,"Dimitrie Cantemir" Christian University Bucharest, vol. 4(3), pages 76-86, September.
    13. Uddin, Md. Kamal & Pan, Xiongfeng & Saima, Umme & Zhang, Chengming, 2022. "Influence of financial development on energy intensity subject to technological innovation: Evidence from panel threshold regression," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    14. Isaac K. Ofori & Andreas Freytag & Simplice A. Asongu, 2023. "Economic globalisation and Africa’s quest for greener and more inclusive growth: The missing link," Working Papers 23/032, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    15. Ioanna Konstantakopoulou, 2020. "Further Evidence on Import Demand Function and Income Inequality," Economies, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-12, October.
    16. Abiola John Asaleye & Adedoyin Isola Lawal & Olabisi Popoola & Philip Olasupo Alege & Oluwatoyese Oluwapemi Oyetade, 2019. "Financial Integration, Employment and Wages Nexus: Evidence from Nigeria," Montenegrin Journal of Economics, Economic Laboratory for Transition Research (ELIT), vol. 15(1), pages 141-154.
    17. Koh, Sharon G. M. & Lee, Grace H. Y. & Siah, Audrey K. L., 2022. "The Resurgence of Income Inequality in Asia-Pacific: The Role of Trade Openness, Educational Attainment and Institutional Quality," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(3), pages 11-27.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Gini coefficient; Openness; Heterogeneous agents;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E10 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - General
    • F41 - International Economics - - Macroeconomic Aspects of International Trade and Finance - - - Open Economy Macroeconomics

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