This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

Income Distribution and Development

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Frances Stewart
Abstract

Income distribution is extremely important for development, since it influences the cohesion of society, determines the extent of poverty for any given average per capita income and the poverty-reducing effects of growth, and even affects people's health. The paper reviews the connections between income distribution and economic growth. It finds that the Kuznets hypothesis that income distribution worsens as levels of income increase is not at all strongly supported by the evidence, while growth rates of income are not systematically related to changes in income distribution. However, evidence is accumulating that more equal income distribution raises economic growth. Both political and economic explanations have been advanced. The finding suggests that more equal income distribution is desirable both for equity and for promoting growth.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www3.qeh.ox.ac.uk/RePEc/qeh/qehwps/qehwps37.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: no

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford in its series QEH Working Papers with number qehwps37.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation:
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:qeh:qehwps:qehwps37

Contact details of provider:
Postal: Queen Elizabeth House 3 Mansfield Road, Oxford, OX1 3TB United Kingdom
Phone: +44 (1865) 281800
Fax: +44 (1865) 281801
Email:
Web page: http://www.qeh.ox.ac.uk/
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Rachel Crawford).

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports: References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Berman, E. & Bound, J. & Machin, S., 1997. "Implications of Skill-Biased Technological Change: International Evidence," Papers 25, Centre for Economic Performance & Institute of Economics.
    Other versions:
  2. Bertola, Giuseppe, 1993. "Factor Shares and Savings in Endogenous Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 83(5), pages 1184-98, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Coen N. Teulings, 1998. "The Contribution of Minimum Wages to Increasing Wage Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 98-093/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. David E. Bloom & David Canning & Günther Fink, 2008. "Population Aging and Economic Growth," PGDA Working Papers 3108, Program on the Global Demography of Aging. [Downloadable!]
  5. R Dickens & S Machin & A Manning & D Metcalf & J Wadsworth & S Woodland, 1994. "The Effect of Minimum Wages on UK Agriculture," CEP Discussion Papers 0204, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
  6. Beyer, Harald & Rojas, Patricio & Vergara, Rodrigo, 1999. "Trade liberalization and wage inequality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 103-123, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Anderson, Dennis, 1982. "Small industry in developing countries: A discussion of issues," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 10(11), pages 913-948, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Alesina, Alberto & Perotti, Roberto, 1994. "The Political Economy of Growth: A Critical Survey of the Recent Literature," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 351-71, September.
  9. Panizza, U., 1999. "Income Inequality and Economic Growth: Evidence from American Data," RES Working Papers 404, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
  10. Dorosh, Paul & Valdés, Alberto, 1990. "Effects of exchange rate and trade policies on agriculture in Pakistan:," Research reports 84, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI). [Downloadable!]
  11. Galor, Oded & Zeira, Joseph, 1993. "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 60(1), pages 35-52, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. John M. Abowd & Francis Kramarz & David N. Margolis, 1999. "Minimum Wages and Employment in France and the United States," NBER Working Papers 6996, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  13. Mesa-Lago, Carmelo, 1983. "Social security and extreme poverty in Latin America," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1-2), pages 83-110. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  14. Shah, Anwar & Whalley, John, 1991. "Tax Incidence Analysis of Developing Countries: An Alternative View," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 5(3), pages 535-52, September.
  15. Alesina, Alberto & Rodrik, Dani, 1994. "Distributive Politics and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 109(2), pages 465-90, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  16. Frances Stewart, . "The Root Causes of Conflict: Some Conclusions," QEH Working Papers qehwps16, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. [Downloadable!]
  17. Ahmed, Raisuddin & Goletti, Francesco, 1998. "Food policy and market reform in Viet Nam and Bangladesh," Annual report essays 199804, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  18. Ahmed, Raisuddin & Goletti, Francesco, 1998. "Food policy and market reform in Viet Nam and Bangladesh," Annual reports 199803, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
  19. Waldmann, Robert J, 1992. "Income Distribution and Infant Mortality," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, MIT Press, vol. 107(4), pages 1283-302, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  20. Timothy Besley & Robin Burgess, 1998. "Land Reform, Poverty Reduction and Growth: Evidence from India," STICERD - Development Economics Papers 13, Suntory and Toyota International Centres for Economics and Related Disciplines, LSE. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  21. Panizza, U., 1999. "Income Inequality and Economic Growth: Evidence from American Data," RES Working Papers 404, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department.
  22. Alejandro Ramirez & Gustav Ranis & Frances Stewart, . "Economic Growth and Human Development -," QEH Working Papers qehwps18, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford. [Downloadable!]
  23. Donald R. Davis, 1996. "Trade Liberalization and Income Distribution," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1769, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
    Other versions:
  24. Michael Sarel, 1997. "How Macroeconomic Factors Affect Income Distribution - The Cross-Country Evidence," IMF Working Papers 97/152, International Monetary Fund.
  25. Ranis, Gustav & Stewart, Frances, 1999. "V-Goods and the Role of the Urban Informal Sector in Development," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 47(2), pages 259-88, January.
  26. Milanovic, Branko & DEC, 1994. "Determinants of cross-country income inequality : an augmented Kuznets hypothesis," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1246, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  27. Rama, Martin, 1996. "The consequences of doubling the minimum wage : the case of Indonesia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1643, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  28. Ugo Panizza Author-X-Name_First: Ugo Author-X-Name_Last: Panizza, 1999. "Income Inequality and Economic Growth: Evidence from the American Data," RES Working Papers 4178, Inter-American Development Bank, Research Department. [Downloadable!]
  29. Krugman, Paul & Taylor, Lance, 1978. "Contractionary effects of devaluation," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 445-456, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  30. Birdsall, Nancy & Ross, David & Sabot, Richard, 1995. "Inequality and Growth Reconsidered: Lessons from East Asia," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 9(3), pages 477-508, September.
  31. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 565-91, September.
  32. Peter Gottschalk & Timothy M. Smeeding, 1997. "Cross-National Comparisons of Earnings and Income Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 633-687, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  33. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1998. "New ways of looking at old issues: inequality and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 259-287. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  34. Anand, Sudhir & Kanbur, S. M. R., 1993. "Inequality and development A critique," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 19-43, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  35. Ali, Ali Abdel Gadir, 1998. "Dealing with Poverty and Income Distribution Issues in Developing Countries: Cross-Regional Experiences," Journal of African Economies, Oxford University Press, vol. 7(0), pages 77-115, December.
  36. Spilimbergo, Antonio & Londono, Juan Luis & Szekely, Miguel, 1999. "Income distribution, factor endowments, and trade openness," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 77-101, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  37. Lipton, Michael, 1993. "Land reform as commenced business: The evidence against stopping," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 21(4), pages 641-657, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  38. Ranis, Gustav & Stewart, Frances & Ramirez, Alejandro, 2000. "Economic Growth and Human Development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(2), pages 197-219, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Jonathan Temple, 2002. "Wage Inequality in a Dual Economy," Bristol Economics Discussion Papers 02/531, Department of Economics, University of Bristol, UK. [Downloadable!]
  2. Milanovic, Branko & Squire, Lyn, 2005. "Does tariff liberalization increase wage inequality ? - Some empirical evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3571, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Bigsten , Arne & Levin, Jörgen, 2000. "Growth, Income Distribution, and Poverty: A Review," Working Papers in Economics 32, Göteborg University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  4. Joseph E. Mullat, 2003. "Judging Social Welfare Policy with the Solving of the Bargaining Problem," Game Theory and Information 0304004, EconWPA, revised 26 Apr 2003. [Downloadable!]
  5. Joseph E. Mullat, 2001. "Judging Social Welfare Policy with the Solving of the Bargaining Problem," Public Economics 0112007, EconWPA, revised 13 Jan 2004. [Downloadable!]
  6. Ananya Ghosh Dastidar, 2004. "Structural Change and Income Distribution in Developing Economies: Evidence from a Group of Asian and Latin American Countries," Working papers 121, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? To receive notification of recent additions to the database, subscribe to the free NEP reports.

This page was last updated on 2008-10-27.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.