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Finance and income inequality : test of alternative theories

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Author Info
Clarke, George
Xu, Lixin Colin
Zou, Heng-fu

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Abstract

Although theoretical models make distinct predictions about the relationship between financial sector development and income inequality, little empirical research has been conducted to compare their relative explanatory power. The authors examine the relation between financial intermediary development and income inequality in a panel data set of 91 countries for the period 1960-95. Their results provide evidence that inequality decreases as economies develop their financial intermediaries, consistent with the theoretical models in Galor and Zeira (1993) and Banerjee and Newman (1993). Moreover, consistent with the insight of Kuznets, the relation between the Gini coefficient and financial intermediary development appears to depend on the sectoral structure of the economy: a larger modern sector is associated with a smaller drop in the Gini coefficient for the same level of financial intermediary development. But there is no evidence of an inverted-U-shaped relation between financial sector development and income inequality, as suggested by Greenwood and Jovanovic (1990). The results are robust to controlling for biases introduced by simultaneity.

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Paper provided by The World Bank in its series Policy Research Working Paper Series with number 2984.

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Date of creation: 31 Mar 2003
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Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:2984

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Keywords: Poverty Impact Evaluation; Environmental Economics&Policies; Health Economics&Finance; Economic Theory&Research; Payment Systems&Infrastructure; Inequality; Economic Theory&Research; Poverty Impact Evaluation; Environmental Economics&Policies; Health Economics&Finance;

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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.:
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  3. Greenwood, Jeremy & Jovanovic, Boyan, 1990. "Financial Development, Growth, and the Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 1076-1107, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  4. Levine, Ross, 1999. "Law, Finance, and Economic Growth," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 8(1-2), pages 8-35, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. 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.
  6. Ross Levine, 1997. "Financial Development and Economic Growth: Views and Agenda," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 688-726, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Rafael LaPorta & Florencio Lopez de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Harvard Institute of Economic Research Working Papers 1788, Harvard - Institute of Economic Research.
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  8. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine, 2001. "Legal Theories of Financial Development," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press, vol. 17(4), pages 483-501.
  9. Hongyi Li & Lixin Colin Xu & Heng-fu Zou, 2000. "Corruption, Income Distribution, and Growth," Economics and Politics, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 12(2), pages 155-182, 07. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Beck, Thorsten & Levine, Ross & Loayza, Norman, 2000. "Finance and the sources of growth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(1-2), pages 261-300. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  11. Easterly, William & Fischer, Stanley, 2001. "Inflation and the Poor," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 33(2), pages 160-78, May.
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  12. Levine, Ross & Loayza, Norman & Beck, Thorsten, 2000. "Financial intermediation and growth: Causality and causes," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 31-77, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Griliches, Zvi & Hausman, Jerry A., 1986. "Errors in variables in panel data," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 93-118, February. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  15. Alesina, Alberto & Baqir, Reza & Easterly, William, 1999. "Public goods and ethnic divisions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2108, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  16. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-98, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Claessens, Stijn, 2005. "Access to financial services: a review of the issues and public policy objectives," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3589, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  2. Bittencourt, Manoel, 2008. "Inflation and Financial Development: Evidence from Brazil," Working Papers RP2008/14, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
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  3. Manoel Bittencourt, 2007. "Financial Development and Inequality: Brazil 1985-1994," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 164, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Liang, Zhicheng, 2006. "Financial Development and Income Inequality in Rural China 1991-2000," Working Papers RP2006/96, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  5. Bertola, Giuseppe, 2007. "Finance and Welfare States in Globalizing Markets," CEPR Discussion Papers 6480, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  6. Quartey, Peter, 2005. "Financial Sector Development, Savings Mobilization and Poverty Reduction in Ghana," Working Papers RP2005/71, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  7. Mohamed Ben Mimoun, 2004. "Redistribution Through Education and Other Mechanisms Under. Capital-Market Imperfections and Uncertainty : A Welfare Effect Analysis," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques bla04110, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1). [Downloadable!]
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  8. Beck, Thorsten & Demirguc-Kunt, Asli & Levine, Ross, 2004. "Finance, inequality, and poverty: cross-country evidence," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3338, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
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  9. Demirguc-Kunt, Asli, 2006. "Finance and economic development : policy choices for developing countries," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3955, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  10. Bonfiglioli, Alessandra, 2005. "Equities and Inequality," Seminar Papers 737, Stockholm University, Institute for International Economic Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Ricardo Bebczuk & Francisco Haimovich, 2007. "MDGs and Microcredit: An Empirical Evaluation for Latin American Countries," Working Papers 0048, CEDLAS, Universidad Nacional de La Plata. [Downloadable!]
  12. Mohamed Ben Mimoun, 2004. "On the role of inequalities and public education expenditures in human capital investment : a theoretical approach," Cahiers de la Maison des Sciences Economiques bla04094, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1). [Downloadable!]
  13. L Angeles, 2005. "Income Inequality and Colonialism," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 66, Economics, The Univeristy of Manchester. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Chen, Yiu Por & Liu, Mingxing & Zhang, Qi, 2006. "Development of Financial Intermediation and the Dynamics of Rural-Urban Inequality: China, 1978-98," Working Papers RP2006/65, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER). [Downloadable!]
  15. Abayomi Samuel Oyekale & Adetola Ibidunni Adeoti & Tolulope Olayemi Oyekale, 2006. "Measurement and Sources of Income Inequality among Rural and Urban Households in Nigeria," Cahiers de recherche PMMA 2006-20, PEP-PMMA. [Downloadable!]
  16. Claessens, Stijn & Feijen, Erik, 2006. "Finance and hunger : empirical evidence of the agricultural productivity channel," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4080, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  17. Anneli Kaasa, 2005. "Factors Of Income Inequality And Their Influence Mechanisms: A Theoretical Overview," University of Tartu - Faculty of Economics and Business Administration Working Paper Series 40, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Tartu (Estonia). [Downloadable!]
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