The debate on the resurgence of income inequality in some advanced industrial societies has often focused on the impact of an increasingly integrated world economy, typified by growing capital mobility, heightened international competition, and an increase in migration. This study represents one of the first systematic, cross‐national examinations of the role of globalization in the inequality “U-turn.” Results indicate, on the one hand, that total inequality variation is principally affected by the percentage of the labor force in agriculture, followed by the institutional factors union density and decommodification, and only then by globalization. On the other hand, longitudinal variation in inequality, while still dominated by the percentage of the labor force in agriculture, is also principally affected by aspects of globalization, such as southern import penetration and direct investment outflow, and to a lesser extent by migration. In other words, globalization explains the longitudinal trend of inc...

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Globalization and the great U-turn: Income inequality trends in 16 OECD countries

This article studies the regional variation in earnings inequality in contemporary urban China, focusing on the relationship between the pace of economic reforms and earning determination. Through ...

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Regional Variation in Earnings Inequality in Reform-Era Urban China

The authors examine the determinants of inequality in the distribution of family income in approximately 3,100 counties of the United States in 1970, 1980, and 1990. Such a study provides a window on global trends in social inequality during the period, which spans the tail end of the Kuznets curve and the more recent upswing in income inequality. Results from random-effects regression models that control for unmeasured heterogeneity among states reveal the continued importance of the Kuznetsian pattern of declining inequality with economic development, a positive effect of urbanization on inequality, a declining positive impact of sector dualism, an increasing positive effect of educational heterogeneity, and a persistent effect of racial dualism. Several variables associated with the recent upswing in inequality have significant effects : female labor-force participation (negative), female-headed households (positive), percent of the population over age 65 (changes from positive to negative over the period), manufacturing employment (negative), and unemployment (ambiguous). They also discuss methods of estimating the Gini coefficient for income inequality at the county level and measures of sector (farm/nonfarm) dualism, racial (Black/White) dualism, and educational heterogeneity

The Kuznets curve and the great u-turn: Income inequality in U.S. counties, 1970 to 1990

Population growth, inequality and economic development are among the most pressing social issues confronting us today. This research argues that these national problems are embedded within the context of increasingly complex multi-dimensional international networks, commonly referred to as globalization. Using cross-national comparisons among 88 less developed countries, I construct a series of structural equation models to estimate the effects of two aspects of globalization, foreign capital dependence and trade openness, on these three domestic concerns between 1980 and 1997. I find that foreign capital dependence has a positive effect on income inequality, raises fertility rates, accelerates population growth and retards economic development. Trade openness, in contrast, has long-term positive effects on economic development.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/10.1525/sp.2001.48.4.435.pdf

The Long Term Effects of Globalization on Income Inequality, Population Growth, and Economic Development

The contemporary era is one of both accelerated economic globalization and rising inequality. There is an increasing awareness among both academic scholars and development professionals that globalization puts certain populations at risk. However, there has been inadequate theoretical analysis and a lack of up to date empirical studies that explain just how contemporary globalization a?ects inequality and the well being of individuals. This study explores the conditions under which TNC penetration and other globalization processes in?uence change in domestic income distribution. Its aim is to investigate whether theoretical models that have proven successful in explaining di?erences in income inequality cross-sectionally also allow for an understanding of the dynamics of income distribution during the 1980s and early 1990s, an era characterized by a dramatic acceleration of globalization. We present an analysis of change in national income distribution using linear regression models with a panel design. This study suggests that dependence on foreign investment as a development strategy, especially compared to domestic and human capital investment, may be misguided for nations concerned with equality. Net of other factors, foreign investment dependence bene?ts the elite segments of the income-earning population over the poorer eighty percent. Our analysis provides evidence of a shift in capital/labor relations brought about by globalization that has signi? cantly contributed to the rise in income inequality seen throughout the world.

/pdf/the-resilience-of-dependency-effects-in-explaining-income-3cqxvboss0.pdf

A. Ameen

Papers

The Distribution of Income Across National-Populations: Testing Multiple Paradigms