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The long-run relationship between finance and income inequality: Evidence from panel data

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  • Thornton, John
  • Tommaso, Caterina Di

Abstract

We use heterogeneous panel cointegration techniques to examine the long-run effect of financial development on income inequality in a panel of 119 countries from 1980 to 2015. We include real GDP per capita in the cointegration relation and explicitly deal with cross-sectional dependence in the data that arises due to unobserved common factors. On average, financial development reduces income inequality in the long-run, with the result robust to different measures of finance and across country income groups.

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  • Thornton, John & Tommaso, Caterina Di, 2020. "The long-run relationship between finance and income inequality: Evidence from panel data," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:32:y:2020:i:c:s1544612319301576
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2019.04.036
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    Cited by:

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    2. Murat Cetin & Harun Demir & Selin Saygin, 2021. "Financial Development, Technological Innovation and Income Inequality: Time Series Evidence from Turkey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 47-69, July.
    3. Sheunesu Zhou & Olivier Niyitegeka, 2023. "On the Dynamic Relationship between Household Debt and Income Inequality in South Africa," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-17, September.
    4. Byron Quito & María de la Cruz del Río‐Rama & José Álvarez‐García & Ronny Correa‐Quezada, 2022. "Impact factors and space‐time characteristics of income inequality in a global sample," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1850-1868, December.
    5. Bojaj, Martin M. & Djurovic, Gordana & Fabris, Nikola & Milovic, Nikola, 2023. "Top 1% and inequality connectedness in the EMU and WB," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 139-155.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; Financial development; Heterogeneous panel cointegration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • F02 - International Economics - - General - - - International Economic Order and Integration
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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