Suchergebnisse

Income Distribution was written primarily as a textbook intended for undergraduate economics majors. The material, however, is treated with sufficient rigor to meet the needs of first year graduate students also. The book may also serve the needs of sociologists and political scientists whoare primarily interested in the related social justice topics of income inequality and poverty. Each chapter is logically connected with the preceding chapters, providing a general overview of income distribution and its applications.

The basic idea explaining the relationship between economic growth and income distribution is the "U- shaped hypothesis" postulated by Simon Kuznets. This can be shown in a dual-economy model with technical progress. Initially, inequality is low, but as labour participation in the modern sector increases, higher wages in this sector tend to increase inequality. However, if enough labour is incorporated in the modern sector, wage inequality begins to diminish. Income inequality continues to worsen between the two sectors, if a new modern economy (e.g. IT-based technical change) is introduced and potential GDP shifts to a new trajectory before the turning point is reached. In a globalised word, the substantial unskilled-labour-saving technical progress puts pressure on wages of unskilled workers (in industrialized countries). Also, globalization may be blamed for leaving many nations and millions of people out from reaping the benefits of globalization. This problem can only be overcome by appropriate reforms of the international economic system.