IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecmode/v121y2023ics0264999323000056.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Inflation and income inequality in a Schumpeterian economy with heterogeneous wealth and skills

Author

Listed:
  • Zheng, Zhijie
  • Wan, Xi
  • Huang, Chien-Yu

Abstract

We explore the effects of monetary policy on innovation and income inequality in a scale-invariant endogenous growth model with heterogeneous households and a cash-in-advance (CIA) constraint on research and development investment. Household heterogeneity arises from unequal distributions of wealth and skill, giving rise to interest and labor income inequalities, respectively. We find that inflation unambiguously reduces innovation and economic growth, whereas its impact on income inequality can be positive, negative, or U-shaped. The relationship between inflation and income inequality depends on the relative dominance of wealth heterogeneity to skill heterogeneity and how the ratio of interest income to labor income responds to inflation. The model is calibrated to the US economy, and the numerical results support these implications on income inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Zheng, Zhijie & Wan, Xi & Huang, Chien-Yu, 2023. "Inflation and income inequality in a Schumpeterian economy with heterogeneous wealth and skills," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:121:y:2023:i:c:s0264999323000056
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2023.106193
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264999323000056
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econmod.2023.106193?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shea, John, 1995. "Union Contracts and the Life-Cycle/Permanent-Income Hypothesis," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(1), pages 186-200, March.
    2. Albanesi, Stefania, 2007. "Inflation and inequality," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(4), pages 1088-1114, May.
    3. Pedro Mazeda Gil & Gustavo Iglésias, 2020. "Endogenous Growth and Real Effects of Monetary Policy: R&D and Physical Capital Complementarities," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(5), pages 1147-1197, August.
    4. Robert J. Barro, 2013. "Inflation and Economic Growth," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 14(1), pages 121-144, May.
    5. Ufuk Akcigit & William R. Kerr, 2018. "Growth through Heterogeneous Innovations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(4), pages 1374-1443.
    6. Mehmet Balcilar & Shinhye Chang & Rangan Gupta & Stephen M. Miller, 2018. "The relationship between the inflation rate and inequality across U.S. states: a semiparametric approach," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 52(5), pages 2413-2425, September.
    7. Reto Foellmi & Josef Zweimuller, 2006. "Income Distribution and Demand-Induced Innovations," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 73(4), pages 941-960.
    8. Zheng, Zhijie & Huang, Chien-Yu & Yang, Yibai, 2021. "Inflation And Growth: A Non-Monotonic Relationship In An Innovation-Driven Economy," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(5), pages 1199-1226, July.
    9. Gene M. Grossman & Elhanan Helpman, 1991. "Quality Ladders in the Theory of Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 58(1), pages 43-61.
    10. Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Stephen Turnovsky, 2006. "Growth and income inequality: a canonical model," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 28(1), pages 25-49, May.
    11. Fuad Hasanov & Oded Izraeli, 2011. "Income Inequality, Economic Growth, And The Distribution Of Income Gains: Evidence From The U.S. States," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 518-539, August.
    12. Zheng, Zhijie & Mishra, Tapas & Yang, Yibai, 2020. "Inflation and income inequality in a variety-expansion growth model with menu costs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 194(C).
    13. Andrés Rodríguez‐Pose & Vassilis Tselios, 2009. "Education And Income Inequality In The Regions Of The European Union," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 411-437, August.
    14. Philippe Aghion & Ufuk Akcigit & Antonin Bergeaud & Richard Blundell & David Hemous, 2019. "Innovation and Top Income Inequality," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 86(1), pages 1-45.
    15. Ragot, Xavier, 2014. "The case for a financial approach to money demand," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 94-107.
    16. Angus C. Chu & Guido Cozzi & Haichao Fang & Yuichi Furukawa & Chih-Hsing Liao, 2019. "Innovation and Inequality in a Monetary Schumpeterian Model with Heterogeneous Households and Firms," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 34, pages 141-164, October.
    17. 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.
    18. Daron Acemoglu & Ufuk Akcigit, 2012. "Intellectual Property Rights Policy, Competition And Innovation," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 10(1), pages 1-42, February.
    19. Loury, Glenn C, 1981. "Intergenerational Transfers and the Distribution of Earnings," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 49(4), pages 843-867, June.
    20. Basu, Parantap & Getachew, Yoseph, 2015. "An adjustment cost model of social mobility," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 177-190.
    21. Charles I. Jones & Jihee Kim, 2018. "A Schumpeterian Model of Top Income Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 126(5), pages 1785-1826.
    22. Stephen J. Turnovsky & Aditi Mitra, 2013. "The Interaction between Human and Physical Capital Accumulation and the Growth-Inequality Trade-off," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 7(1), pages 26-75.
    23. Angus Chu & Guido Cozzi, 2018. "Effects of Patents versus R&D subsidies on Income Inequality," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 29, pages 68-84, July.
    24. Angus C. Chu & Guido Cozzi, 2014. "R&D And Economic Growth In A Cash‐In‐Advance Economy," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55(2), pages 507-524, May.
    25. Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Jean-François Wen, 2008. "Redistribution and entrepreneurship with Schumpeterian growth," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 13(1), pages 57-80, March.
    26. Angus C. Chu, 2010. "Effects of Patent Policy on Income and Consumption Inequality in a R&D Growth Model," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 77(2), pages 336-350, October.
    27. Chu, Angus C. & Cozzi, Guido & Lai, Ching-Chong & Liao, Chih-Hsing, 2015. "Inflation, R&D and growth in an open economy," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 360-374.
    28. Michael Elsby & Bart Hobijn & Ayseful Sahin, 2013. "The Decline of the U.S. Labor Share," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 44(2 (Fall)), pages 1-63.
    29. Barbara Annicchiarico & Valentina Antonaroli & Alessandra Pelloni, 2022. "Optimal factor taxation in a scale free model of vertical innovation," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 60(2), pages 794-830, April.
    30. Chu, Angus C. & Cozzi, Guido & Furukawa, Yuichi & Liao, Chih-Hsing, 2017. "Inflation and economic growth in a Schumpeterian model with endogenous entry of heterogeneous firms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 392-409.
    31. Edwards, Sebastian, 1997. "Trade Policy, Growth, and Income Distribution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 87(2), pages 205-210, May.
    32. H. Naci Mocan, 1999. "Structural Unemployment, Cyclical Unemployment, and Income Inequality," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(1), pages 122-134, February.
    33. Jin, Yi, 2009. "A Note On Inflation, Economic Growth, And Income Inequality," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 13(1), pages 138-147, February.
    34. Shorrocks, A F, 1982. "Inequality Decomposition by Factor Components," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 193-211, January.
    35. David M. Blau, 1999. "The Effect Of Income On Child Development," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(2), pages 261-276, May.
    36. Chu, Angus C. & Cozzi, Guido & Lai, Ching-Chong & Liao, Chih-Hsing, 2013. "Monetary Policy, R&D and Economic Growth in an Open Economy," MPRA Paper 47364, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    37. John Laitner & Dmitriy Stolyarov, 2013. "Derivative Ideas And The Value Of Intangible Assets," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 54(1), pages 59-95, February.
    38. Angus C. Chu & Guido Cozzi & Haichao Fang & Yuichi Furukawa & Chih-Hsing Liao, 2019. "Innovation and Inequality in a Monetary Schumpeterian Model with Heterogeneous Households and Firms," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 34, pages 141-164, October.
    39. vom Lehn, Christian, 2018. "Understanding the decline in the U.S. labor share: Evidence from occupational tasks," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 191-220.
    40. Zheng, Zhijie, 2020. "Inflation and income inequality in a Schumpeterian economy with menu costs," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    41. Chou, Chien-Fu & Talmain, Gabriel, 1996. "Redistribution and Growth: Pareto Improvements," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 1(4), pages 505-523, December.
    42. Ghossoub, Edgar A. & Reed, Robert R., 2017. "Financial development, income inequality, and the redistributive effects of monetary policy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 167-189.
    43. Huang, Chien-Yu & Yang, Yibai & Cheng, Chu-Chuan, 2017. "The growth and welfare analysis of patent and monetary policies in a Schumpeterian economy," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 409-426.
    44. He, Qichun & Zou, Heng-fu, 2016. "Does inflation cause growth in the reform-era China? Theory and evidence," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 470-484.
    45. Jean Olson Lanjouw, 1998. "Patent Protection in the Shadow of Infringement: Simulation Estimations of Patent Value," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 65(4), pages 671-710.
    46. Glomm, Gerhard & Ravikumar, B, 1992. "Public versus Private Investment in Human Capital Endogenous Growth and Income Inequality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(4), pages 818-834, August.
    47. García-Peñalosa, Cecilia & Turnovsky, Stephen J., 2015. "Income Inequality, Mobility, And The Accumulation Of Capital," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(6), pages 1332-1357, September.
    48. Vaona, Andrea, 2012. "Inflation And Growth In The Long Run: A New Keynesian Theory And Further Semiparametric Evidence," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 16(1), pages 94-132, February.
    49. Drago Bergholt & Francesco Furlanetto & Nicolò Maffei-Faccioli, 2022. "The Decline of the Labor Share: New Empirical Evidence," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 14(3), pages 163-198, July.
    50. Angus C. Chu, 2010. "Effects of Patent Policy on Income and Consumption Inequality in a R&D Growth Model," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 77(2), pages 336-350, October.
    51. Peter Howitt, 1999. "Steady Endogenous Growth with Population and R & D Inputs Growing," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 107(4), pages 715-730, August.
    52. Angus C. Chu & Guido Cozzi, 2014. "R&D And Economic Growth In A Cash‐In‐Advance Economy," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 55, pages 507-524, May.
    53. Lerman, Robert I & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1985. "Income Inequality Effects by Income," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(1), pages 151-156, February.
    54. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/4vm8e5vhjr99cb1ekr86bivlk0 is not listed on IDEAS
    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. He, Qichun, 2023. "The inverted-U effect of inflation on growth: Cross-country evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).

    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. Zheng, Zhijie & Huang, Chien-Yu & Wan, Xi, 2020. "Human Capital and Income Inequality in a Monetary Schumpeterian Growth Model," MPRA Paper 101912, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Lu, You-Xun, 2022. "Interactive effects of monetary policy and patent protection: The role of endogenous innovation size," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Angus C. Chu & Guido Cozzi & Haichao Fang & Yuichi Furukawa & Chih-Hsing Liao, 2019. "Innovation and Inequality in a Monetary Schumpeterian Model with Heterogeneous Households and Firms," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 34, pages 141-164, October.
    4. Lu, You-Xun & Chen, Shi-kuan & Lai, Ching-chong, 2022. "Monetary Policy and Economic Growth in a Schumpeterian Model with Incumbents and Entrants," MPRA Paper 112177, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Lu, You-Xun & Lai, Ching-Chong, 2021. "Effects of patent policy on growth and inequality: A perspective of exogenous and endogenous quality improvements," MPRA Paper 111183, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    6. Hu, Ruiyang & Yang, Yibai & Zheng, Zhijie, 2021. "Inflation, endogenous quality increment, and economic growth," Mathematical Social Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 72-86.
    7. Huang, Chien-Yu & Yang, Yibai & Zheng, Zhijie, 2018. "Monetary Policy in a Schumpeterian Growth Model with Two R&D Sectors," MPRA Paper 87462, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Chu, Angus C. & Peretto, Pietro F., 2023. "Innovation and inequality from stagnation to growth," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    9. Angus C. Chu, 2022. "Inflation, innovation, and growth: A survey," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 74(3), pages 863-878, July.
    10. Angus C. Chu & Yuichi Furukawa & Sushanta Mallick & Pietro Peretto & Xilin Wang, 2021. "Dynamic effects of patent policy on innovation and inequality in a Schumpeterian economy," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 71(4), pages 1429-1465, June.
    11. Hu, Ruiyang & Yang, Yibai & Zheng, Zhijie, 2023. "Patent protection and income inequality in a model with two growth engines," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    12. Angus C. Chu & Guido Cozzi & Haichao Fan & Yuichi Furukawa, 2021. "Inflation, Unemployment, and Economic Growth in a Schumpeterian Economy," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 123(3), pages 874-909, July.
    13. FURUKAWA Yuichi & NIWA Sumiko, 2021. "Deflation and Declining Business Dynamism in a Cash-in-Advance Economy," Discussion papers 21058, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    14. Lu Han, 2019. "The Mutable Geography of Firms' International Trade: Evidence and Macroeconomic Implications," Working Papers 201909, University of Liverpool, Department of Economics.
    15. Chu, Angus C. & Cozzi, Guido & Furukawa, Yuichi & Liao, Chih-Hsing, 2017. "Inflation and economic growth in a Schumpeterian model with endogenous entry of heterogeneous firms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 392-409.
    16. Zheng, Zhijie & Hu, Ruiyang & Yang, Yibai, 2021. "Inflation, endogenous quality increment, and economic growth," MPRA Paper 106989, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. He, Qichun & Zhang, Zhixiang, 2019. "Inflation and Growth: An Inverted-U Relationship," MPRA Paper 97092, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. He, Qichun, 2018. "Inflation and health in a Schumpeterian growth model: Theory and evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 159-168.
    19. Lu, You-Xun & Hsu, Che-Chun & Lai, Ching-chong, 2022. "Monetary policy and income inequality in a Schumpeterian economy with endogenous step size," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 213(C).
    20. Angus Chu & Guido Cozzi, 2018. "Effects of Patents versus R&D subsidies on Income Inequality," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 29, pages 68-84, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; Inflation; Wealth and skill heterogeneity; Endogenous economic growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • O30 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - General
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • E41 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Demand for Money

    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:eee:ecmode:v:121:y:2023:i:c:s0264999323000056. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/30411 .

    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.