This paper asks how much we should care about changes in Lorenz curves and standard inequality measures when economic growth takes place. I conclude that these changes are of some importance but that other aspects of inequality and poverty are more important. Introduction In December, 2006, the new President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, convened a workshop on economic inequality. Chile has achi...

Race and ethnicity play a central role in understanding the structure of inequality in the United States. In this paper, we focus on the economic chasm between black and white America and on what economic theory can contribute to our understanding of both inequality and the design of effective policy. We review recent models of labor market discrimination and the intergenerational transmission ...

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES The ambiguity and variability in existing literature on the magnitude of socio-economic inequality in self-reported morbidities makes it difficult to set priorities in health policy. This study examined three critical research questions: first, how far self-reporting affects measuring socio-economic inequalities in case of obstetric morbidities. Second, does using simple...

This paper examines the subjective consequence of rising income inequality amidst the rapid economic growth in China. Based on the data from a national representative survey conducted in 2005, we employ multi-level models to show that, while personal income improves life satisfaction, the effect decreases with the level of local economic development; moreover, the rate of local economic growth ...

Hobbes to Rousseau: Inequality, Institutions, and Development This paper studies the endogenous evolution of economic and political institutions and the interdependencies with the process of economic development. Favorable economic institutions in form of a social contract that ensures a state of law and the absence of societal conflict are not assumed exogenously under certain political system...

• Polarisation hinders both growth and human development • Measuring income polarisation provides a distinct insight into the link between growth and human development • Policy recommendations based on polarisation measures will differ from those based on conventional inequality measures, and are likely to be more nuanced S everal countries, particularly in Asia, have seen soaring economic grow...