IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eco/journ1/2014-01-13.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Relationship Between Economic Growth and Income Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Nasfi Fkili Wahiba

    (ResearchUnit "Enterprise Economy Environment HigherInstitute of management, University of Gabes,Tunisia.)

  • Malek El Weriemmi

    (ResearchUnit "Enterprise Economy Environment HigherInstitute of management, University of Gabes,Tunisia.)

Abstract

The objective of this work is to study the nature of the relationship between income inequality and economic growth in Tunisia. To do this, we started with a review of the literature. Then we conducted an empirical study on the Tunisian case over the period 1984-2011. The main results show that economic growth and openness exchange constituted aggravating factors of inequalities and that these effects are accentuated with the accelerated process of trade liberalization in the country. However, human capital and financial development appears to have contributed to the alleviation of this problem.The second result shows that inequality had a negative effect on economic growth and that this effect appeared more after the acceleration of the process of opening exchange. This result can be explained by the fact that the country has reached an "unbearable" level of inequality. Similarly, it can be explained by the failure of redistribution policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Nasfi Fkili Wahiba & Malek El Weriemmi, 2014. "The Relationship Between Economic Growth and Income Inequality," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 4(1), pages 135-143.
    • Handle: RePEc:eco:journ1:2014-01-13
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/download/657/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.econjournals.com/index.php/ijefi/article/view/657/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Benabou, Roland, 1994. "Human capital, inequality, and growth: A local perspective," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(3-4), pages 817-826, April.
    2. Lopez, Humberto, 2006. "Growth and inequality: Are the 1990s different?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 93(1), pages 18-25, October.
    3. Bowman, Kirk S., 1997. "Should the Kuznets effect be relied on to induce equalizing growth: Evidence from post-1950 development," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 25(1), pages 127-143, January.
    4. Huw Lloyd-Ellis & Dan Bernhardt, 2000. "Enterprise, Inequality and Economic Development," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 67(1), pages 147-168.
    5. 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.
    6. Frazer, Garth, 2006. "Inequality and development across and within countries," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 34(9), pages 1459-1481, September.
    7. Alberto Alesina & Dani Rodrik, 1994. "Distributive Politics and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(2), pages 465-490.
    8. 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 274-298, April.
    9. Randolph, Susan M. & Lott, William F., 1993. "Can the Kuznets effect be relied on to induce equalizing growth?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 829-840, May.
    10. Durlauf, Steven N., 1994. "Spillovers, stratification, and inequality," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(3-4), pages 836-845, April.
    11. Durlauf, Steven N, 1996. "A Theory of Persistent Income Inequality," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(1), pages 75-93, March.
    12. Deininger, K & Squire, L, 1996. "Measuring Income Inequality : A New Data-Base," Papers 537, Harvard - Institute for International Development.
    13. Philippe Aghion & Patrick Bolton, 1997. "A Theory of Trickle-Down Growth and Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(2), pages 151-172.
    14. Roland Bénabou, 1996. "Inequality and Growth," NBER Chapters, in: NBER Macroeconomics Annual 1996, Volume 11, pages 11-92, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Bourguignon, Francois & Verdier, Thierry, 2000. "Oligarchy, democracy, inequality and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 285-313, August.
    16. Thomas Piketty, 1997. "The Dynamics of the Wealth Distribution and the Interest Rate with Credit Rationing," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(2), pages 173-189.
    17. Jerry Cromwell, 1977. "The Size Distribution Of Income: An International Comparison," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 23(3), pages 291-308, September.
    18. Bourguignon, Francois & Morrisson, Christian, 1998. "Inequality and development: the role of dualism," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(2), pages 233-257.
    19. Ahluwalia, Montek S., 1976. "Inequality, poverty and development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 307-342, December.
    20. 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.
    21. Kevin M. Murphy & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 1989. "Income Distribution, Market Size, and Industrialization," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 104(3), pages 537-564.
    22. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1994. "Is Inequality Harmful for Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 600-621, June.
    23. Papanek, Gustav F. & Kyn, Oldrich, 1986. "The effect on income distribution of development, the growth rate and economic strategy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 55-65, September.
    24. Kristin J. Forbes, 2000. "A Reassessment of the Relationship between Inequality and Growth," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 869-887, September.
    25. Eusufzai, Zaki, 1997. "The Kuznets hypothesis: An indirect test," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 81-85, January.
    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. Grzywińska-Rąpca Małgorzata & Grzybowska-Brzezińska Mariola & Gornowicz Mirosław, 2023. "Income inequality among European households and their biological type," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 59(3), pages 197-208, September.
    2. G rkemli Kazar & Altu Kazar, 2015. "Is Harmonious Development Valid for European Union Regions?," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 5(4), pages 954-967.
    3. Adnen Ben Nasr & Mehmet Balcilar & Rangan Gupta & Seyi Saint Akadiri, 2018. "Asymmetric Effects of Inequality on Per Capita Real GDP of the United States," Working Papers 201820, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    4. Imam Mukhlis & Isnawati Hidayah & Sariyani, 2018. "Economic agglomeration, economic growth and income inequality in regional economies," Economic Journal of Emerging Markets, Universitas Islam Indonesia, vol. 10(2), pages 205-212, Oktober.
    5. T.O. Abiloro & A. Olawole & T.E. Adeniran, 2019. "Corruption, Income Inequality, and Economic Development in Nigeria," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 9(4), pages 304-319, October.
    6. Adnen Ben Nasr & Mehmet Balcilar & Seyi Saint Akadiri & Rangan Gupta, 2019. "Kuznets Curve for the US: A Reconsideration Using Cosummability," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 827-843, April.
    7. Adnen Ben Nasr & Mehmet Balcilar & Rangan Gupta & Seyi Saint Akadiri, 2020. "Asymmetric effects of inequality on real output levels of the United States," Eurasian Economic Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 10(1), pages 47-69, March.
    8. Paolo Trucillo & Alessandro Erto, 2023. "Sustainability Indicators for Materials and Processes," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-16, April.
    9. Mohamed Ali Chroufa & Nouri Chtourou, 2022. "Inequality and Growth in Tunisia: New Evidence from Threshold Regression," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 901-924, September.
    10. Lindokuhle Talent Zungu & Lorraine Greyling, 2022. "Exploring the Dynamic Shock of Unconventional Monetary Policy Channels on Income Inequality: A Panel VAR Approach," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-22, August.
    11. Duc Hong Vo & Thang Cong Nguyen & Ngoc Phu Tran & Anh The Vo, 2019. "What Factors Affect Income Inequality and Economic Growth in Middle-Income Countries?," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-12, March.
    12. Claudia Andreea Urean, 2017. "The Impact Of Income Inequality And Educational Inequality On Economic Growth - A Literarure Review," Annals - Economy Series, Constantin Brancusi University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 4, pages 59-65, August.
    13. Hasna Khemili & Mounir Belloumi, 2018. "Cointegration Relationship between Growth, Inequality and Poverty In Tunisia," International Journal of Applied Economics, Finance and Accounting, Online Academic Press, vol. 2(1), pages 8-18.
    14. Seyi Saint Akadiri & Ada Chigozie Akadiri, 2018. "Growth and Inequality in Africa: Reconsideration," Academic Journal of Economic Studies, Faculty of Finance, Banking and Accountancy Bucharest,"Dimitrie Cantemir" Christian University Bucharest, vol. 4(3), pages 76-86, September.
    15. Yang, Yiwen & Greaney, Theresa M., 2017. "Economic growth and income inequality in the Asia-Pacific region: A comparative study of China, Japan, South Korea, and the United States," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 6-22.
    16. Kemal ERKİŞİ & Turgay CEYHAN, 2020. "The Relationship Between Economic Growth and Income Inequality: A Panel Data Analysis," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 28(43).

    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. Denis Cogneau & Charlotte Guénard, 2002. "Les inégalités et la croissance : une relation introuvable," Working Papers DT/2002/03, DIAL (Développement, Institutions et Mondialisation).
    2. Oded Galor, 2009. "Inequality and Economic Development: An Overview," Working Papers 2009-3, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    3. Lewis S. Davis, 2004. "Explaining the Evidence on Inequality and Growth: Informality and Redistribution," DEGIT Conference Papers c009_032, DEGIT, Dynamics, Economic Growth, and International Trade.
    4. Angeles, Luis, 2007. "Income inequality and colonialism," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(5), pages 1155-1176, July.
    5. Joël Hellier & Stéphane Lambrecht, 2013. "Inequality, Growth and Welfare: The Main Links," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Joël Hellier & Nathalie Chusseau (ed.), Growing Income Inequalities, chapter 9, pages 274-311, Palgrave Macmillan.
    6. Dong‐Hyeon Kim & Ho‐Chuan Huang & Shu‐Chin Lin, 2011. "Kuznets Hypothesis In A Panel Of States," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 29(2), pages 250-260, April.
    7. Martin Baur, 2010. "Politics and Income Distribution," Chapters, in: Neri Salvadori (ed.), Institutional and Social Dynamics of Growth and Distribution, chapter 3, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    8. Christophe Ehrhart, 2009. "The effects of inequality on growth: a survey of the theoretical and empirical literature," Working Papers 107, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    9. Grossmann, Volker, 2008. "Risky human capital investment, income distribution, and macroeconomic dynamics," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 19-42, March.
    10. Bourguignon, Francois, 2005. "The Effect of Economic Growth on Social Structures," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 27, pages 1701-1747, Elsevier.
    11. Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine, 2009. "Finance and Inequality: Theory and Evidence," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 287-318, November.
    12. Josef ZweimüLler, 2000. "Inequality, Redistribution, and Economic Growth," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 27(1), pages 1-20, March.
    13. Isaac Ehrlich & Jinyoung Kim, 2007. "The Evolution of Income and Fertility Inequalities over the Course of Economic Development: A Human Capital Perspective," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 137-174.
    14. Amparo Castelló-Climent, 2004. "A Reassessment Of The Relationship Between Inequality And Growth: What Human Capital Inequality Data Say?," Working Papers. Serie EC 2004-15, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
    15. Oded, Galor, 2011. "Inequality, Human Capital Formation, and the Process of Development," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 441-493, Elsevier.
    16. Ayal Kimhi, 2004. "Growth, Inequality and Labor Markets in LDCs: A Survey," CESifo Working Paper Series 1281, CESifo.
    17. Marrero, Gustavo A. & Rodríguez, Juan G., 2013. "Inequality of opportunity and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 107-122.
    18. Stephan Litschig & María Lombardi, 2019. "Which tail matters? Inequality and growth in Brazil," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 24(2), pages 155-187, June.
    19. Robert J. Barro, 1999. "Inequality, Growth, and Investment," NBER Working Papers 7038, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Ravallion, Martin, 2003. "Targeted transfers in poor countries : revisiting the tradeoffs and policy options," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3048, The World Bank.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; growth; liberalization; Tunisia;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F61 - International Economics - - Economic Impacts of Globalization - - - Microeconomic Impacts
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General

    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:eco:journ1:2014-01-13. 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: Ilhan Ozturk (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.econjournals.com .

    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.