WHAT CAUSES INCOME INEQUALITY: ECONOMIC GROWTH OR FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT?

Year 2020, Volume: 19 Issue: 2, 327 - 364, 12.03.2021

Merter Akıncı Gönül Yüce Akıncı Ömer Yılmaz

https://doi.org/10.32450/aacd.886085

Abstract

The paper investigates the linkage between growth, finance and inequality in the light of inverted-U hypothesis in the European Union member countries in the
period 1995-2018. The findings of the multiple equations analysis indicate that economic growth and financial development act together, implying that growth
boosts finance and vice versa. In addition, while the paper does not support the Kuznets hypothesis, the findings confirm the Greenwood-Jovanovic hypothesis,
suggesting that the linkage between financial development and inequality is quadratic. That is to say, in the first phase of development, development of the
financial markets is related to income inequality positively, however beyond the threshold level of finance, the linkage between finance and inequality becomes
negative.

Keywords

Economic Growth, Financial Development, Income Inequality, Inverted-U Hypothesis, Simultaneous Equation System

Gelir Eşitsizliğine Sebep Olan Nedir: Ekonomik Büyüme mi Yoksa Finansal Kalkınma mı?

Abstract

Bu çalışma, ters-U hipotezi bağlamında büyüme, finans ve eşitsizlik arasındaki ilişkileri Avrupa Birliği’ne üye ülkeler bağlamında 1995-2018 periyodu itibariyle
araştırmaktadır. Çoklu denklem analiz bulguları, ekonomik büyüme ve finansal kalkınma sürecinin birlikte hareket ettiğini, bir diğer deyişle ekonomik büyümenin
finansal kalkınmayı ve finansal kalkınmanın da büyümeyi hızlandırdığını ortaya koymuştur. İlaveten çalışma, Kuznets hipotezini desteklememekle birlikte, bulgular
finansal kalkınma ve eşitsizlik arasındaki ilişkilerin kuadratik olduğunu öne süren Greenwood-Jovanovic hipotezinin geçerli olduğunu teyit etmiştir. Bir başka şekilde
ifade etmek gerekirse, kalkınma sürecinin ilk safhasında finansal piyasaların gelişim sürecinin gelir eşitsizliği ile pozitif yönlü bir ilişki içinde olduğu, ancak finansal
sistemin belirli bir eşik değerini aşmasını takiben finans ve eşitsizlik arasındaki ilişkilerin negatif olduğu bulunmuştur.

Keywords

Ekonomik Büyüme, Finansal Kalkınma, Gelir Eşitsizliği, Ters-U Hipotezi, Eşanlı Denklem Sistemi

References

• Afonso, Antonio, Hans P. Grüner and Christina Kolerus. “Fiscal Policy and Growth: Do Financial Crises Make a Difference?”. European Central Bank Working Paper Series, no 1217 (2010): 1-42.
• Afonso, Oscar, Ana L. Albuquerque and Alexandre Almeida. “Wage Inequality Determinants in the European Union”. Applied Economics Letters 20, (2013): 1170-1173.
• Akıncı, Merter, Gönül Yüce Akıncı ve Ömer Yılmaz. “Gelir Eşitsizliğini Azaltmada Finansal Sistem Ne Kadar Etkin? Türkiye Ekonomisi Için Bölgesel Panel Veri Analizi [How Effective is Financial System to Reduce Income Inequality: A Regional Panel Data Analysis for Turkish Economy]”. TİSK Akademi 10, no 20 (2015): 286-316.
• Alderson, Arthur S. “Explaining the Upswing in Direct Investment: A Test of Mainstream and Heterodox Theories of Globalization”. Social Forces 83, (2004): 81-122.
• Alderson, Arthur S. and François Nielsen. “Globalization and the Great U-Turn: Income Inequality Trends In 16 OECD Countries”. American Journal of Sociology 107, (2002): 1244-1299.
• Ang, James B. “Finance and Inequality: The Case of India”. Southern Economic Journal 76, (2010): 738-761.
• Arellano, Manuel and Olympia Bover. “Another Look at the Instrumental Variables Estimation of Error-Components Models”. Journal of Econometrics 68, no 1 (1995): 29-51.
• Arestis, Philip, Panicos O. Demetriades and Kul B. Luintel. “Financial Development and Economic Growth: The Role of Stock Markets”. Journal of Money, Credit and Banking 33, (2001): 16-41.
• Atkinson, Anthony B., Lee Rainwater and Timothy M. Smeeding. “Income Distribution in OECD Countries: Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study”. Social Policy Studies 18, (1995): 1-159.
• Beblo, Miriam and Thomas Knaus. “Measuring Income Inequality in Euroland”. Review of Income and Wealth 47, (2001): 301–320.
• Beck, Thorsten, Aslı Demirgüç-Kunt and Ross Levine. “Finance, Inequality and the Poor”. Journal of Economic Growth 12, (2007): 27-49.
• Beckfield, Jason. “European Integration and Income Inequality”. American Sociological Review 71, (2006): 964-985.
• Beckfield, Jason. “Remapping Inequality in Europe: The Net Effect of Regional Integration on Total Income Inequality in the European Union”. International Journal of Comparative Sociology 50, (2009): 486-509.
• Beedles, William L. “A Micro-Econometric Investigation of Multi-Objective Firms”. The Journal of Finance 32, no 4 (1977): 1217-1233.
• Bick, Alexander. “Thresholds Effects of Inflation on Economic Growth in Developing Countries”. Economics Letters 108, no 2 (2010): 126-129.
• Bollen, Kenneth A. “An Alternative Two Stage Least Squares (2SLS) Estimator for Latent Variable Equations”. Psychometrika 61, (1996): 109-121.
• Bonesmo-Fredriksen, Kaja. “Income Inequality in the European Union”. OECD Economics Department Working Papers, no 952 (2012): 1-26.
• Brandolini, Andrea. “Measurement of Income Distribution in Supranational Entities: The Case of the European Union”. In Inequality and Poverty Re-examined, editors S. P. Jenkins and J. Micklewright, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007.
• Busemeyer, Marius R. and Tobias Tober. “European Integration and the Political Economy of Inequality”. European Union Politics 16, no 4 (2015): 536-557.
• Calderon, Cesar and Lin Liu. “The Direction of Causality between Financial Development and Economic Growth”. Journal of Development Economics 72, (2003): 321-334.
• Caner, Mehmet and Bruce E. Hansen. “Instrumental Variable Estimation of a Threshold Model”. Econometric Theory 20, (2004): 813-843.
• Caporale, Guglielmo M., Christophe Rault, Robert Sova and Anamaria Sova. “Financial Development and Economic Growth: Evidence from Ten New EU Members”. DIW Berlin German Institute for Economic Research Discussion Papers, no 940 (2009): 1-42.
• Claessens, Stijn and Enrico Perotti. “Finance and Inequality: Channels and Evidence”. Journal of Comparative Economics 35, (2007): 748-773.
• Clarke, George R. G., Lixin Xu and Heng-Fu Zou. “Finance and Income Inequality: What Do the Data Tell Us?”. Southern Economic Journal 72, (2006): 578-596.
• Cornia, Giovanni A. “Economic Integration, Inequality and Growth: Latin America versus the European Economies in Transition”. Review of Economics and Institutions 2, no 2 (2011): 1-31.
• Dhrifi, Abdelhafidh. “Financial Development and the ‘Growth-Inequality-Poverty’ Triangle”. Journal of Knowledge Economy 6, no 4 (2015): 1163-1176.
• Furceri, Davide and Prakash Loungani. “Capital Account Liberalization and Inequality”. IMF Working Paper, no WP/15/243 (2015): 1-26.
• Galor, Oded and Omer Moav. “From Physical to Human Capital Accumulation: Inequality and the Process of Development”. Review of Economic Studies 71, (2004): 1001–1026.
• Gowland, David and Arthur Turner. Reluctant Europeans: Britain and European Integration, 1945-1998. New York: Routledge, 2014.
• Greenwood, Jeremy and Boyan Jovanovic. “Financial Development, Growth and Distribution of Income”. Journal of Political Economy 98, (1990): 1076-1107.
• Hansen, Bruce E. “Threshold Effects in Non-Dynamic Panels: Estimation, Testing, and Inference”. Journal of Econometrics 93, no 2 (1999): 345-368.
• Hoffmeister, Onno. “The Spatial Structure of Income Inequality in the Enlarged EU”. Review of Income and Wealth 55, (2009): 101–127.
• Honohan, Patrick. “Financial Development, Growth and Poverty: How Close Are the Links?”. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper, no 3203 (2004): 1- 31.
• Jalilian, Hossein and Colin Kirkpatrick. “Does Financial Development Contribute to Poverty Reduction?”. The Journal of Development Studies 41, (2005): 636-656.
• Jaumotte, Florence, Subir Lall and Chris Papageorgiou. “Rising Income Inequality: Technology, or Trade and Financial Globalization?”. IMF Economic Review 61, (2013): 271-309.
• Kaltenbrunner, Annina, Gary Dymski and Hanna Szymborska. “Financialization and Inequality: A European Challenge”. Queries 7, (2015): 34-36.
• Kremer, Stephanie, Alexander Bick and Dieter Nautz. “Inflation and Growth: New Evidence from a Dynamic Panel Threshold Analysis”. Empirical Economics 44, no 2 (2013): 861-878.
• Kunieda. Takuma, Keisuke Okada and Akihisa Shibata. “Finance and Inequality: How Does Globalization Change Their Relationship?”. MPRA Paper, no 35358 (2011): 1-46.
• Kuo, Kuo H. and Cheng T. Lee. “Economic Integration, Growth and Income Distribution”. Australian Economic Papers 56, no 1 (2017): 59-71.
• Kuznets, Simon. “Economic Growth and Income Inequality”. The American Economic Review 45, (1955): 1-28.
• Kuznets, Simon. “Quantitative Aspects of the Economic Growth of Nations: Viii. Distribution of Income by Size”. Economic Development and Cultural Change 11, (1963): 1-80.
• Law, Siong H. and Hui B. Tan. “The Role of Financial Development on Income Inequality in Malaysia”. Journal of Economic Development 34, (2009): 153- 168.
• Lundberg, Mattias and Lyn Squire. “The Simultaneous Evolution of Growth and Inequality”. The Economic Journal 113, (2003): 326-344.
• Maddison, Angus. Economic Growth in the West: Comparative Experience in Europe and North America. Great Britain: Routledge, 2014.
• Masten, B. Arjana, Fabrizio Coricelli and Igor Masten. “Non-Linear Effect of Financial Development: Does Financial Integration Matter?”. Journal of International Money and Finance 27, (2008): 295-313.
• Milanovic, Branko. “Explaining the Increase in Inequality during Transition”. Economics of Transition 7, (1999): 299-341.
• Obstfeld, Maurice. “Risk-Taking, Global Diversification and Growth”. American Economic Review 84, (1994): 1310-1329.
• Odhiambo, Nicholas M. “Finance-Growth-Poverty Nexus in South Africa: A Dynamic Causality Linkage”. The Journal of Socio-Economics 38, (2009): 320-325.
• Park, Donghyun and Kwanho Shin. “Economic Growth, Financial Development and Income Inequality”. ADB Economics Working Paper Series, no 441 (2015): 1- 31.
• Patrick, Hugh T. “Financial Development and Economic Growth in Underdeveloped Countries”. Economic Development and Cultural Change 14, (1966): 174-189.
• Pradhan, Rudra. “The Nexus between Finance, Growth and Poverty in India: The Cointegration and Causality Approach”. Asian Social Science 6, (2010): 114- 122.
• Rehman, Hafeez U., Sajawal Khan and Imtiaz Ahmed. “Income Distribution, Growth and Financial Development: A Cross Countries Analysis”. Pakistan Economic and Social Review 46, (2008): 1-16.
• Rewilak, Johan. “Finance Is Good for the Poor But It Depends Where You Live”. Journal of Banking & Finance 37, (2013): 1451-1459.
• Rosati, Dariusz K. “Growth Prospects in the EU-10 Member States after the Crisis”. In Post-Crisis Growth and Integration in Europe, editors E. Nowotny, P.
• Mooslechner and D. Ritzberger-Grünwald, 45-62. USA: Edward Elgar, 2011.
• Schumpeter, Joseph A. The Theory of Economic Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press 1911.
• Smeeding, Timothy M. “Changing Income Inequality in OECD Countries: Updated Results from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS)”. In The Personal Distribution of Income in an International Perspective, editors R. Hauser and I. Becker, 205-224. Berlin: Springer, 2000.
• Western, Bruce. Between Class and Market: Postwar Unionization in Capitalist Democracies. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1997
• Yüce Akıncı, Gönül ve Merter Akıncı. “Ters-U Hipotezi Bağlamında Ekonomik Büyüme, Finansal Kalkınma ve Gelir Eşitsizliği Mekanizmaları Üzerine”. Finans Politik ve Ekonomik Yorumlar 53, no 622 (2016): 61-78.
• Yüce Akıncı, Gönül, Merter Akıncı ve Ömer Yılmaz. “Financial DevelopmentEconomic Growth Nexus: A Panel Data Analysis upon OECD Countries”. Hitotsubashi Journal of Economics 55, (2014): 33-50.
• Zhang, Quanda and Rongda Chen. “Financial Development and Income Inequality in China: An Application of SVAR Approach”. Procedia Computer Science 55, (2015): 774-781.