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Effects of Income Inequality on Growth through Efficiency Improvement and Capital Accumulation

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  • Eiji Yamamura
  • Inyong Shin

Abstract

In the present paper, the inverted-U shape relationship between economic growth and inequality found in Chen (2003) is re-examined. We decompose productivity growth into efficiency improvement, capital accumulation and technological progress and then ascertain their determinants by employing fixed effects and dynamic panel models. In particular, this paper focuses on the question of how economic inequality affects capital accumulation and efficiency improvement. Key findings are that inequality enhances efficiency improvement as well as capital accumulation and then undermines them as inequality widens. However, other factors such as human capital, openness and government consumption have different effects on them.

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  • Eiji Yamamura & Inyong Shin, 2009. "Effects of Income Inequality on Growth through Efficiency Improvement and Capital Accumulation," International Economic Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 23(2), pages 237-258.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:intecj:v:23:y:2009:i:2:p:237-258
    DOI: 10.1080/10168730902903391
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    2. Liu, Zhen & Li, Ruotong & Cai, Renjie & Lan, Jing, 2023. "A nexus of income inequality and natural resource utilization efficiency: Effect on the road to green economic recovery," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    3. Muhammad Shahbaz & Ijaz Rehman & Nurul Mahdzan, 2014. "Linkages between income inequality, international remittances and economic growth in Pakistan," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 48(3), pages 1511-1535, May.
    4. Yiping Gao & Rong Yuan & Shenglin Zheng, 2022. "Effects of Human Capital on Energy Consumption: The Role of Income Inequality," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Alexander Cotte Poveda & Clara Inés Pardo Martínez, 2011. "Las tendencias de la pobreza y la desigualdad: una evidencia para los departamentos de Colombia," Ensayos Revista de Economia, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Economia, vol. 0(2), pages 29-50, November.
    6. Mikulas Luptacik & Bernhard Mahlberg, 2018. "Revisiting the Efficiency-Equity Trade-off: A Muli-objective Linear Problem combined with an extended Leontief Input Output Model," Department of Economic Policy Working Paper Series 016, Department of Economic Policy, Faculty of National Economy, University of Economics in Bratislava.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; economic growth; fixed effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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