Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/243360 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Working Paper No. 2021/34
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
Countering recent rises in many countries of inequality in income and wealth is widely recognized as a major development challenge. This is so from an ethical perspective and because greater inequality is perceived to be detrimental to key development aims. Still, an informed debate on the effects of inequality requires clear evidence. This review contributes to the literature by taking stock and providing an overview of current knowledge of the impact of income inequality on three important outcomes: economic growth, health and education as two dimensions of human development, and governance, with a focus on democracy. Drawing on the insights from different disciplines and considering recent work, it reveals that existing evidence provides somewhat mixed results and argues for a need for further in-depth empirical work. It also points to explanations for the lack of consensus embedded in data quality and availability, measurement issues, and the shortcomings of the different methods employed. Finally, we point to promising future research avenues relying on experimental work for micro level analysis, more region- and country-specific studies, and reiterate the need for improvements in the availability and reliability of data.
Subjects: 
inequality
growth
health
education
governance
review
JEL: 
O15
O40
P48
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
ISBN: 
978-92-9256-972-3
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
561.98 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.