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Trade, Education, and Income Inequality

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  • Markus Brueckner
  • Ngo Van Long
  • Joaquin Vespignani

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between countries’ bilateral trade with the United States that is not due to gravity (non-gravity trade) and the distribution of income within countries. In countries where only a small share of the population are educated, an increase in non-gravity trade is associated with a significant increase in income inequality. As education of the population increases the correlation between non-gravity trade and income inequality becomes smaller. Non-gravity trade has no significant effect on income inequality in countries that are world leaders in education. Ce document examine la relation entre le commerce bilatéral des pays avec les États-Unis qui n'est pas due à la gravité (commerce non gravitaire) et la répartition des revenus au sein des pays. Dans les pays où seule une petite partie de la population est éduquée, une augmentation du commerce non gravitaire est associée à une augmentation significative des inégalités de revenus. À mesure que l'éducation de la population augmente, la corrélation entre le commerce non gravitaire et l'inégalité des revenus diminue. Le commerce non gravitaire n'a pas d'effet significatif sur l'inégalité des revenus dans les pays qui sont les leaders mondiaux de l'éducation.

Suggested Citation

  • Markus Brueckner & Ngo Van Long & Joaquin Vespignani, 2020. "Trade, Education, and Income Inequality," CIRANO Working Papers 2020s-33, CIRANO.
  • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:2020s-33
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Non-Gravity Trade; Inequality; Education; Commerce non gravitaire; Inégalité; Éducation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment

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