Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) ranks as the second most unequal region globally (in terms of income distribution), harboring 10 of the 19 most unequal countries in the world. This paper explores the channels through which income inequality exerts its effects on economic growth in SSA. The study spans...

Does a more unequal society emit more CO2? The nexus between carbon emissions and income inequality has been at the core of a vast literature, which has yielded conflicting results. Leveraging panel econometric techniques, we provide robust evidence of a non-linear relationship that depends on...

Men at the bottom quintile of the German male earnings distribution had lower average earnings in 2019 than in 2001. In contrast, female earnings have increased throughout the distribution. What explains these diverging trends and how did they translate into changes in net income? Data from the...

This paper studies the relationship between investor protection, financial risk sharing and income inequality. In the presence of market frictions, better protection makesinvestors more willing to take on entrepreneurial risk while lending to firms. This implies lower cost of external finance...

This paper investigates the evolution of earnings inequality in urban China from 1989 to2006. After decomposing the variance of log of earnings into transitory and permanent twoparts, we find that both components are important contributors to the total variance ofearnings. We also find that the...

Using survey data from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS) from 2010 to 2018, this paper analyzes the relationship between income inequality, group-specific income redistribution, and subjective well-being among China's urban, rural, and migrant populations. Using narrowly defined reference...

This paper shows that rising top income shares affect job creation at firms of different sizes. High-income households save relatively more in stocks and bonds, and less in bank deposits. We propose that a higher income share of top earners therefore channels funds to large firms, but tightens...

We produce estimates of the full distribution of all national income in Australia for the period 1991 to 2018, by combining household survey with administrative tax microdata and adjusting to match National Accounts aggregates. From these estimates, we are able to rigorously document the shifts...

Many governments introduced temporary adjustments to counter the economic and health consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. We study the importance of already existing government transfers and pandemic measures to mitigate individual income losses during the pandemic in Sweden using a...

This paper investigates the effect of firm-level investment on the levels of income inequality and poverty. Using a sample of firms from 87 countries for the period from 1979 to 2018, we document that firm-level investment is negatively associated with various measures of income inequality. This...