A CROSS-COUNTRY INVESTIGATION OF INEQUALITY AND GROWTH WITH THEIL INDEXES

Year 2011, Volume: 61 Issue: 2, 111 - 142, 14.11.2011

Yrd. Doç. Dr. Alpaslan İsagiller

Abstract

In our study, we investigate empirically any systematic relationship between income
inequality and economic growth in both directions; the effects of growth or development on
inequality (the Kuznets hypothesis) and the effects of inequality on subsequent growth. The study
is carried out in a traditional cross-country estimation using recently updated data on several
variables and Theil indexes as inequality measures. The relationship between inequality and
growth are investigated in different samples for two periods; 1965-1985 and 1985-2005 peiods.
Our findings do not support the Kuznets hypothesis; the inverted-U relationship between per
capita income and inequality seems to be an artificial statistical fact as a consequence of the Latin
American countries clustering in the middle, with high inequalities. But our estimation results
show that poor countries are statistically more unequal than richer countries and that inequality
tends to fall over the course of development. Our estimation results do not also show any
statistically significant relationship between inequality and subsequent growth. 

Keywords

income inequality, distribution, growth, development, Theil index, human capital, Kuznets hypothesis, Latin effect

A CROSS-COUNTRY INVESTIGATION OF INEQUALITY AND GROWTH WITH THEIL INDEXES

Abstract

Çalışmamızda gelir eşitsizliği ile ekonomik büyüme arasında herhangi bir sistematik ilişki
olup olmadığını ampirik olarak araştırdık; ilişki, büyüme ya da gelişmenin eşitsizlik üzerine
etkileri (Kuznets hipotezi) ve eşitsizliğin daha sonraki büyüme üzerine etkileri olarak iki yönlü
olarak ele alınmıştır. Geleneksel ülkelerarası kesit tahmin yöntemi ile yürütülen çalışmamızda
birçok değişken için yakın zamanda yenilenmiş veriler ve eşitsizlik ölçütleri için Theil endeksleri
kullanılmıştır. Eşitsizlik ve büyüme arasındaki ilişki değişik örneklemlerle 1965-1985 ve 1985¬
2005 olmak üzere iki dönemde araştırılmıştır. Bulgularımız Kuznets hipotezini
desteklememektedir. Kişi başına gelir ile eşitsizlik arasındaki ters-U şeklinde bir ilişki, yüksek
eşitsizliklere sahip Latin Amerika ülkelerinin ortada kümelenmelerinden dolayı yapay istatistiksel bir olgu olarak gözükmektedir. Ancak tahmin sonuçlarımız fakir ülkelerin zenginlere göre
istatistiksel olarak daha eşitsiz olduklarını ve gelişme süreci içinde eşitsizliğin düşme eğiliminde
olduğunu göstermektedir. Tahmin sonuçlarımız ayrıca eşitsizlik ve sonraki büyüme arasında
istatistiksel olarak anlamlı bir ilişki göstermemektedir.

Keywords

gelir eşitsizliği, dağılım, büyüme, gelişme, Theil endeksi, beşeri sermaye, Kuznets hipotezi, Latin etkisi

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