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Income Inequality and Macroeconomic Volatility: an Empirical Investigation

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  • Breen, R.
  • Garcia-Penalosa, C.

Abstract

Recently, there has been a resurgence in the interest in the determinants of income inequality across countries. This paper adds to this literature by examining the role of one further explanatory variable: macroeconomic volatility. Using a cross-section of developed and developing countries, the authors regress income inequality on volatility, defined as the standard deviation of the rate of output growth. They find that greater volatility increases the Gini coefficient and the income share of the top quintile, while it reduces the share of the other quintiles. The other variable that seems to play an important role is relative labour productivity, supporting previous findings.

Suggested Citation

  • Breen, R. & Garcia-Penalosa, C., 1999. "Income Inequality and Macroeconomic Volatility: an Empirical Investigation," Economics Papers 1999-w20, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:nuf:econwp:1999-w20
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Dani Rodrik, 1999. "Democracies Pay Higher Wages," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 707-738.
    2. Atkinson, A B, 1997. "Bringing Income Distribution in from the Cold," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(441), pages 297-321, March.
    3. Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, 1999. "Why do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output Per Worker than Others?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 114(1), pages 83-116.
    4. Caroli, Eve & Garcia-Penalosa, Cecilia, 2002. "Risk aversion and rising wage inequality," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 77(1), pages 21-26, September.
    5. Li, Hongyi & Squire, Lyn & Zou, Heng-fu, 1998. "Explaining International and Intertemporal Variations in Income Inequality," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(446), pages 26-43, January.
    6. repec:dau:papers:123456789/7307 is not listed on IDEAS
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    INCOME ; POVERTY ; SOCIAL WELFARE;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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