IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ecorec/v85y2009i270p260-275.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Long‐run Determinants of Australian Income Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • NOEL GASTON
  • GULASEKARAN RAJAGURU

Abstract

Recent interest has been stimulated by the growth of income inequality in most developed countries during the 1980s and 1990s. However, considerable uncertainty still exists as to which factors have been the most important causes of this development. This article uses a measure of income inequality derived from taxation statistics and a recently proposed method for testing long‐run Granger non‐causality to examine the key determinants of Australia's inequality for the years 1970–2001. In line with popular concern, we find that globalisation and technological progress – defined as the global flow of information – has increased income inequality. In contrast, improved terms of trade have been equity‐enhancing. Of the institutional determinants, de‐unionisation has had an adverse effect on income inequality, whereas higher minimum wages have reduced it.

Suggested Citation

  • Noel Gaston & Gulasekaran Rajaguru, 2009. "The Long‐run Determinants of Australian Income Inequality," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 85(270), pages 260-275, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:85:y:2009:i:270:p:260-275
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4932.2009.00539.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2009.00539.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1475-4932.2009.00539.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Leigh, 2007. "Does Raising the Minimum Wage Help the Poor?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 83(263), pages 432-445, December.
    2. Johansen, Soren & Juselius, Katarina, 1990. "Maximum Likelihood Estimation and Inference on Cointegration--With Applications to the Demand for Money," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 52(2), pages 169-210, May.
    3. Peter H. Lindert & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2003. "Does Globalization Make the World More Unequal?," NBER Chapters, in: Globalization in Historical Perspective, pages 227-276, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Atkinson, A B, 1997. "Bringing Income Distribution in from the Cold," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(441), pages 297-321, March.
    5. Axel Dreher & Noel Gaston, 2007. "Has Globalisation Really had no Effect on Unions?," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 165-186, May.
    6. Freeman, Richard B., 1998. "War of the models: Which labour market institutions for the 21st century?1," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 1-24, March.
    7. Jeff Borland, 1999. "Earnings Inequality in Australia: Changes, Causes and Consequences," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 75(2), pages 177-202, June.
    8. Ross Guest & Robyn Swift, 2008. "Fertility, income inequality, and labour productivity," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 60(4), pages 597-618, October.
    9. Daron Acemoglu, 2002. "Technical Change, Inequality, and the Labor Market," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 40(1), pages 7-72, March.
    10. Blau, Francine D & Kahn, Lawrence M, 1996. "International Differences in Male Wage Inequality: Institutions versus Market Forces," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 791-836, August.
    11. Mark Wooden, 2001. "Industrial Relations Reform in Australia: Causes, Consequences and Prospects," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 34(3), pages 243-262, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. John Creedy & Norman Gemmell & Loc Nguyen, 2018. "Income Inequality in New Zealand, 1935–2014," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 51(1), pages 21-40, March.
    2. Madsen, Jakob B. & Islam, Md. Rabiul & Doucouliagos, Hristos, 2018. "Inequality, financial development and economic growth in the OECD, 1870–2011," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 605-624.
    3. John Creedy & Norman Gemmell & Loc Nguyen, 2018. "Income Inequality in New Zealand, 1935–2014," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 51(1), pages 21-40, March.
    4. Creedy, John & Gemmell, Norman & Nguyen, Loc, 2017. "Income inequality in New Zealand, 1935 – 2014," Working Paper Series 20253, Victoria University of Wellington, Chair in Public Finance.
    5. 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.
    6. Ebney Ayaj Rana & Mustafa Kamal, 2018. "Does Clientelism Affect Income Inequality? Evidence from Panel Data," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 26(1), pages 1-24, March.
    7. Nicholas Biddle & Maxine Montaigne, 2017. "Income Inequality in Australia – Decomposing by City and Suburb," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 36(4), pages 367-379, December.
    8. Mehmet Akif DESTEK, 2018. "Dimensions of globalization and income inequality in transition economies: taking into account cross-sectional dependence," Eastern Journal of European Studies, Centre for European Studies, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University, vol. 9, pages 5-25, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Noel Gaston, 2008. "Understanding Australian Income Inequality: The Proper Role played by Globalisation, De-unionisation and the Terms of Trade," Agenda - A Journal of Policy Analysis and Reform, Australian National University, College of Business and Economics, School of Economics, vol. 15(1), pages 49-66.
    2. Axel Dreher & Noel Gaston, 2008. "Has Globalization Increased Inequality?," Review of International Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 516-536, August.
    3. Simone Bertoli & Francesco Farina, 2007. "The functional distribution of income: a review of the theoretical literature and of the empirical evidence around its recent pattern in European countries," Department of Economic Policy, Finance and Development (DEPFID) University of Siena 005, Department of Economic Policy, Finance and Development (DEPFID), University of Siena.
    4. Jabłoński Łukasz, 2019. "Inequality in Economics: The Concept, Perception, Types, and Driving Forces," Journal of Management and Business Administration. Central Europe, Sciendo, vol. 27(1), pages 17-43, March.
    5. Frank A. Cowell, 2008. "Income Distribution and Inequality," Chapters, in: John B. Davis & Wilfred Dolfsma (ed.), The Elgar Companion to Social Economics, chapter 13, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    6. Rajaguru, Gulasekaran & Srivastava, Sadhana & Sen, Rahul & Mukhopadhaya, Pundarik, 2023. "Does globalization drive long-run inequality within OECD countries? A guide to policy making," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 469-493.
    7. Dimitris Pavlopoulos & Ruud Muffels & Jeroen Vermunt, 2010. "Wage mobility in Europe. A comparative analysis using restricted multinomial logit regression," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 44(1), pages 115-129, January.
    8. Henrekson, Magnus & Johansson, Dan, 2010. "Firm Growth, Institutions and Structural Transformation," Ratio Working Papers 150, The Ratio Institute.
    9. Paul Frijters & Robert Gregory, 2006. "From Golden Age to Golden Age: Australia's ‘Great Leap Forward’?," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 82(257), pages 207-224, June.
    10. Zohal Hessami & Thushyanthan Baskaran, 2015. "Has Globalisation Affected Collective Bargaining? An Empirical Test, 1980–2009," The World Economy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(12), pages 1880-1911, December.
    11. A. Tidu, 2023. "Dissecting inequality: conceptual problems, trends and drivers," Working Paper CRENoS 202313, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    12. Nathalie Chusseau & Michel Dumont, 2012. "Growing Income Inequalities in Advanced," Working Papers hal-00993359, HAL.
    13. Weinhold, Diana & Nair-Reichert, Usha, 2009. "Innovation, Inequality and Intellectual Property Rights," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 889-901, May.
    14. Patrick A. Puhani, 2008. "Transatlantic Differences in Labour Markets: Changes in Wage and Non‐Employment Structures in the 1980s and the 1990s," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 9(3), pages 312-338, August.
    15. Robyn Swift, 2011. "The relationship between health and GDP in OECD countries in the very long run," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(3), pages 306-322, March.
    16. Serge Svizzero & Clem Tisdell, 2003. "Income inequality between skilled individuals," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(11), pages 1118-1130, November.
    17. Filip Novokmet, 2018. "The long-run evolution of inequality in the Czech Lands, 1898-2015," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02878212, HAL.
    18. Arnaud Dupuy & Lex Borghans, 2005. "Supply and demand, allocation and wage inequality: an international comparison," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(9), pages 1073-1088.
    19. Jeff Borland, 2000. "Economic Explanations of Earnings Distribution Trends in the International Literature and Application to New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 00/16, New Zealand Treasury.
    20. Fischer, Justina A.V., 2012. "The choice of domestic policies in a globalized economy: Extended Version," MPRA Paper 37816, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:85:y:2009:i:270:p:260-275. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/esausea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.