IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/imf/imfwpa/2006-158.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Inflation, Inequality, and Social Conflict

Author

Listed:
  • Mr. Christopher W. Crowe

Abstract

This paper presents and then tests a political economy model to analyze the observed positive relationship between income inequality and inflation. The model's key features are unequal access to both inflation-hedging opportunities and the political process. The model predicts that inequality and 'elite bias' in the political system interact to create incentives for inflation. The paper's empirical section focuses on this predicted interaction effect. The identification strategy involves using the end of the Cold War as a source of exogenous variation in the political environment. It finds robust evidence in support of the model.

Suggested Citation

  • Mr. Christopher W. Crowe, 2006. "Inflation, Inequality, and Social Conflict," IMF Working Papers 2006/158, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2006/158
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/cat/longres.aspx?sk=19289
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. By Ales BulÌr, 2001. "Income Inequality: Does Inflation Matter?," IMF Staff Papers, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 48(1), pages 1-5.
    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. Manoel Bittencourt, 2010. "Financial development and inequality: Brazil 1985–1994," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 43(2), pages 113-130, May.
    2. Filiz Yesilyurt & J. Elhorst, 2014. "A regional analysis of inflation dynamics in Turkey," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 52(1), pages 1-17, January.
    3. Carsten Hefeker, 2010. "Taxation, corruption and the exchange rate regime," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 338-346, March.
    4. Bittencourt, Manoel, 2011. "Inflation and financial development: Evidence from Brazil," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 91-99.
    5. Bittencourt, Manoel, 2010. "Democracy, Populism and Hyperinflation[s]: Evidence from Latin America," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Hannover 2010 47, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    6. Hyunwoo Kim, 2023. "The microfoundation of macroeconomic populism: The effects of economic inequality on public inflation aversion," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(1), pages 65-96, March.
    7. Conrad Scheibe, 2016. "Fiscal Consolidations and Their Effects on Income Inequality," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 2016-4, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    8. Binder, Carola, 2019. "Inequality and the inflation tax," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1-1.
    9. Manoel Bittencourt, 2007. "Macroeconomic Performance and Inequality: Brazil 1983-1994," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 163, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    10. Deven Bansod & Geetilaxmi Mohapatra & A. K. Giri, 2017. "Fiscal Policy, Economic Growth and Income Inequality: A Case of Indian Economy," Romanian Economic Journal, Department of International Business and Economics from the Academy of Economic Studies Bucharest, vol. 20(63), pages 72-88, March.
    11. Correa Romar & Rao D. Tripati, 2014. "A Heterodox Economics Critique of Financial Liberalization," Journal of Heterodox Economics, Sciendo, vol. 1(1), pages 79-99, June.
    12. Ahiadorme, Johnson Worlanyo, 2022. "Monetary policy in search of macroeconomic stability and inclusive growth," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(4), pages 308-324.
    13. Menji, Sisay, 2008. "Determinants of Recent Inflation in Ethiopia," MPRA Paper 29668, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Olmo Silva, 2004. "Entrepreneurship: Can the Jack-of-All-Trades Attitude be Aquired?," CEP Discussion Papers dp0665, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.

    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. Pierre‐Richard Agénor, 2004. "Macroeconomic Adjustment and the Poor: Analytical Issues and Cross‐Country Evidence," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(3), pages 351-408, July.
    2. Carlos Garcimartín & Jhonatan Astudillo & André Martínez, 2021. "Inflation and income distribution in Central America, Mexico, Panama, and the Dominican Republic," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(1), pages 315-339, February.
    3. Asongu, Simplice & Amavilah, Voxi & Andrés, Antonio R., 2014. "Economic Implications of Business Dynamics for KE-Associated Economic Growth and Inclusive Development in African Countries," MPRA Paper 63793, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Conrad Scheibe, 2016. "Fiscal Consolidations and Their Effects on Income Inequality," UCL SSEES Economics and Business working paper series 2016-4, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies (SSEES).
    5. Simplice Asongu, 2014. "Software piracy, inequality and the poor: evidence from Africa," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 41(4), pages 526-553, July.
    6. Hermann Sautter, 2002. "Equity and growth – an uneasy relationship," Ibero America Institute for Econ. Research (IAI) Discussion Papers 089, Ibero-America Institute for Economic Research.
    7. ALi Abdel Gadir Ali, "undated". "Poverty in the Arab Region: A Selective Review," API-Working Paper Series 0402, Arab Planning Institute - Kuwait, Information Center.
    8. Gaëlle Tatiana TIMBA & Douzounet MALLAYE & Urbain Thierry YOGO, 2015. "Oil Rent and Income Inequality in Developing Economies: Are They Friends or Foes?," Working Papers 201502, CERDI.
    9. Chew Soon Beng & Rosalind Chew, 2012. "An Analysis Of Income Inequality, Social Security And Competitiveness: An Essay On Dr Goh Keng Swee'S Contributions To Singapore'S Economic Strategy," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 57(01), pages 1-17.
    10. Arkadiusz Sieron, 2017. "Inflation and Income Inequality," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2017(6), pages 633-645.
    11. Simplice Asongu, 2015. "The impact of mobile phone penetration on African inequality," International Journal of Social Economics, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 42(8), pages 706-716, August.
    12. Simplice A. Asongu & Jacinta C. Nwachukwu, 2016. "Mobile Phone Penetration, Mobile Banking and Inclusive Development in Africa," The African Finance Journal, Africagrowth Institute, vol. 18(1), pages 34-52.
    13. Rubens P. Cysne, 2004. "Income Inequality In A Job-Search Model With Heterogeneous Time Preferences?," Anais do XXXII Encontro Nacional de Economia [Proceedings of the 32nd Brazilian Economics Meeting] 051, ANPEC - Associação Nacional dos Centros de Pós-Graduação em Economia [Brazilian Association of Graduate Programs in Economics].
    14. Milanovic, Branko & Ersado, Lire, 2008. "Reform and Inequality during the Transition: An Analysis Using Panel Household Survey Data, 1990-2005," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4780, The World Bank.
    15. Manoel BITTENCOURT, 2009. "Macroeconomic Performance And Inequality: Brazil, 1983–94," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 47(1), pages 30-52, March.
    16. Cysne, Rubens P. & Maldonado, Wilfredo L. & Monteiro, Paulo Klinger, 2005. "Inflation and income inequality: A shopping-time approach," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 516-528, December.
    17. 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.
    18. de Jong, Eelke, 2002. "Why are price stability and statutory independence of central banks negatively correlated? The role of culture," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 675-694, November.
    19. Oksana Melikhova & Jakub Čížek, 2014. "Kuznets Inverted U-Curve Hypothesis Examined on Up-To Date Observations for 145 Countries," Prague Economic Papers, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2014(3), pages 388-410.
    20. Facundo Alvaredo & Guillermo Cruces & Leonardo Gasparini, 2018. "A short episodic history of income distribution in Argentina," Latin American Economic Review, Springer;Centro de Investigaciòn y Docencia Económica (CIDE), vol. 27(1), pages 1-45, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    WP; mover accent;

    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:imf:imfwpa:2006/158. 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: Akshay Modi (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/imfffus.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.