Does Capital Account Liberalization and Foreign Banks Ownership Lead to Income Disparity : An Analysis of BRICS Economies

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the impact of capital account liberalization and foreign bank ownership on income inequality. The timeline was 1991-2020, and the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) were analyzed through an unbalanced panel dataset. To measure the data on capital account liberalization(dependent variable), KAOPEN index was applied. Income inequality (the independent variable) was calculated through Gini Coefficient. The authors studied per capita income, unemployment rate, inflation, and population growth as controlled variables. The study found that sustainable capital account liberalization and foreign bank ownership could help to reduce income inequality