Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/104299 
Year of Publication: 
2010
Series/Report no.: 
Munich Discussion Paper No. 2010-26
Publisher: 
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Volkswirtschaftliche Fakultät, München
Abstract: 
There is strong evidence that different income groups consume different bundles of goods. This evidence suggests that trade liberalization can affect welfare inequality within a country via changes in the relative prices of goods consumed by different income groups (the price effect). In this paper, I develop a framework that enables us to explore the role of the price effect in determining welfare inequality. There are two core elements in the model. First, I assume that heterogenous in income consumers share identical but nonhomothetic preferences. Secondly, I consider a monopolistic competition environment that leads to variable markups affected by trade and trade costs. I �nd that trade liberalization does affect the prices of different goods differently and, as a result, can bene�fit some income classes more than others. In particular, I show that the relative welfare of the rich with respect to that of the poor has a hump shape as a function of trade costs.
Subjects: 
nonhomothetic preferences
income distribution
monopolistic competition
JEL: 
F12
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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