Inequality, Growth, and Poverty in an Era of Liberalization and Globalization

TRAMA

Based on an extensive review of relevant literature and an econometric analysis of inequality indexes, this volume provides the first systematic analysis of the changes in within-country income inequality over the last twenty years. In particular, it shows that inequality worsened in seventy per cent of the 73 developed, developing, and transitional countries analysed, and evaluates possible causes for this widespread rise in income inequality. The book goes on to offer the first empirical assessment of the relation between policies towards liberalization and globalization and income inequality.

NOTE EDITORE

Within-country income inequality has risen since the early 1980s in most of the OECD, all transitional, and many developing countries. More recently, inequality has risen also in India and nations affected by the Asian crisis. Altogether, over the last twenty years, inequality worsened in 70 per cent of the 73 countries analysed in this volume, with the Gini index rising by over five points in half of them. In several cases, the Gini index follows a U-shaped pattern, with the turn-around point located between the late 1970s and early 1990s. Where the shift towards liberalization and globalization was concluded, the right arm of the U stabilized at the 'steady state level of inequality' typical of the new policy regime, as observed in the UK after 1990. Mainstream theory focusing on rises in wage differentials by skill caused by either North-South trade, migration, or technological change poorly explains the recent rise in income inequality. Likewise, while the traditional causes of income polarization-high land concentration, unequal access to education, the urban bias, the 'curse of natural resources'-still account for much of cross-country variation in income inequality, they cannot explain its recent rise. This volume suggests that the recent rise in income inequality was caused to a considerable extent by a policy-driven worsening in factorial income distribution, wage spread and spatial inequality. In this regard, the volume discusses the distributive impact of reforms in trade and financial liberalization, taxation, public expenditure, safety nets, and labour markets. The volume thus represents one of the first attempts to analyse systematically the relation between policy changes inspired by liberalization and globalization and income inequality. It suggests that capital account liberalization appears to have had-on average-the strongest disequalizing effect, followed by domestic financial liberalization, labour market deregulation, and tax reform. Trade liberalization had unclear effects, while public expenditure reform often had positive effects.

SOMMARIO

1 - Inequality, Growth and Poverty: An Overview of Changes over the Last Two Decades2 - Income Distribution Changes and Their Impact in the Post-World War II period3 - Land Ownership Inequality and the Income Distribution Consequences of Economic Growth4 - Does Educational Achievement Help Explain Income Inequality?5 - Rural and Urban Income and Poverty: Does Convergence Between Sectors Offset Divergence within Them?6 - Globalization, Technology and Income Inequality: A Critical Analysis7 - External Liberalization, Economic Performance and Distribution in Latin America and Elsewhere8 - Labour Market Institutions and Income Inequality: What are the New Insights after the Washington Consensus?9 - Increased Income Inequality in OECD Countries and the Redistributive Impact of the Government Budget10 - Income Distribution and Tax and Government Social Spending Policies in Developing Countries11 - The Impact of Adjustment-Related Social Funds on Income Distribution and Poverty12 - Reducing Poverty and Inequality in India: Has Liberalization Helped?13 - Factor Shares and Resource Booms: Accounting for the Evolution of Venezuelan Inequality14 - The Impact of Financial Liberalization and the Rise of Financial Rents on Income Inequality: The Case of Turkey15 - The Changing Nature of Inequality in South Africa16 - Growth, Structural Change and Inequality: The Experience of Thailand

AUTORE

Giovanni Andrea Cornia is currently professor of economics at the University of Florence. Before this, he was the Director of the World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU/WIDER) in Helsinki (1995-2000), and Director of the Economic and Social Policy Research Programme at the International Child Development Centre (the world-wide research centre of UNICEF) in Florence (1989-95). He was also the Chief Economist at UNICEF Headquarters in New York (1981-89) and held research positions at UNCTAD, UNECE (with a long spell at ECLAC in Santiago) and the Economic Studies Centre of FIAT.

ALTRE INFORMAZIONI

• Condizione: Nuovo
• ISBN: 9780199284108
• Collana: WIDER Studies in Development Economics
• Dimensioni: 234 x 25.7 x 158 mm Ø 716 gr
• Formato: Brossura
• Illustration Notes: numerous figures and tables
• Pagine Arabe: 464