Long-Run Effects of Democracy on Income Inequality : Evidence from Repeated Cross-Sections

Long-Run Effects of Democracy on Income Inequality : Evidence from Repeated Cross-Sections

This paper assesses the link between democracy and inequality. Inequality is measured at the cohort level with pseudo-panel data built from nine Latin American countries' household surveys (1995-2009, biannual). Democracy is measured as a stoc...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author:	Balcazar, Carlos Felipe
Format:	Policy Research Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank Group, Washington, DC 2015
Subjects:	ABSOLUTE VALUE ACCESS TO EDUCATION ACCOUNTING ARMED CONFLICT BARGAINING BARGAINING POWER CAPITALISM CITIZEN CITIZENS CONSTANT PRICES COUNTRY LEVEL CROSS-COUNTRY COMPARISONS CROSS-COUNTRY PANEL CROSS-COUNTRY STUDIES DATA SET DATA SETS DEMOCRACIES DEMOCRACY DEMOCRATIC REGIMES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DEPRESSION DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS DEVELOPMENT POLICY DICTATORSHIP DIFFERENTIAL PATHS DISCRIMINATION DISTRIBUTIVE POLITICS EARNINGS INEQUALITY ECONOMIC CHANGE ECONOMIC CHANGES ECONOMIC CRISES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIC GROWTH ECONOMIC HISTORIANS ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES ECONOMIC POLICIES ECONOMIC RESEARCH ECONOMIC REVIEW ECONOMICS EDUCATIONAL ATTAINMENT EGALITARIAN DISTRIBUTION ELECTIONS EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS EMPIRICAL FINDINGS EMPIRICAL RESEARCH EMPIRICAL STUDIES EMPIRICAL TEST FACTOR ENDOWMENTS FAMILY INCOME FINANCIAL CRISIS FORCED LABOR FRANCHISE GDP GENDER DIFFERENCES GENDER ROLES GENDER ~ DIFFERENCES GOVERNMENT POLICIES HIGH INEQUALITY HIGH UNEMPLOYMENT HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS HUMAN CAPITAL HUMAN DEVELOPMENT IMPACT OF CONFLICT INCOME INEQUALITY INCOME INEQUALITY DATA INCOME REDISTRIBUTION INCOMES INCREASED RETURNS INCUMBENT INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT INEQUALITY EFFECT INEQUALITY EQUATION INEQUALITY ESTIMATES INFLATION INSTITUTIONAL ECONOMICS INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION INVESTMENT IN EDUCATION JOB OPPORTUNITIES LABOR ECONOMICS LABOR MARKETS LABOR UNIONS LAWS LEGAL FRAMEWORK LEGISLATORS LEGITIMACY LIFE EXPECTANCY LITERACY RATES LOW INCOME MACROECONOMICS MEAN INCOME MEASUREMENT ERROR MEDIAN INCOME MEDIAN VOTER MINIMUM WAGES MINORITY MONOPOLY ORGANIZED LABOR PEACE PERSISTENT INEQUALITY POLICY DISCUSSIONS POLICY PROCESS POLICY RESEARCH POLICY RESEARCH WORKING PAPER POLICY-MAKING PROCESS POLITICAL CHANGE POLITICAL CONTROL POLITICAL ECONOMY POLITICAL ECONOMY OF GROWTH POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS POLITICAL PARTICIPATION POLITICAL PARTIES POLITICAL POWER POLITICAL SCIENCE POLITICAL STABILITY POLITICAL UNREST POOR PEOPLE PRIMARY EDUCATION PRODUCTIVITY PROGRESS PROPERTY RIGHTS PUBLIC CHOICE PUBLIC EDUCATION PUBLIC INVESTMENT PUBLIC SERVICES PUBLIC SPENDING PURCHASING POWER PURCHASING POWER PARITY QUALITY OF EDUCATION QUALITY OF LIFE RECESSION REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACIES REPUBLIC RIGHT-WING RULE OF LAW SCHOOL YEARS SERIAL CORRELATION SOCIAL NORMS SOCIAL OUTCOMES SOCIAL POLICY SOCIAL STRUCTURE SOCIALISM SUFFRAGE TAXATION TEENAGERS TREATY UNEMPLOYMENT UNIONS URBAN AREAS WAGE STRUCTURE WAR WARS
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2015/01/23172053/long-run-effects-democracy-income-inequality-evidence-repeated-cross-sections http://hdl.handle.net/10986/21150

Description
Summary:	This paper assesses the link between democracy and inequality. Inequality is measured at the cohort level with pseudo-panel data built from nine Latin American countries' household surveys (1995-2009, biannual). Democracy is measured as a stock during long periods of time both before and after each cohort's year of birth. The paper presents evidence that long-run historical patterns in the degree of democracy relate to income inequality. However, this relationship is non-monotonic: inequality first increases with the stock of democracy before falling. The paper also presents evidence that education may be a mechanism explaining this result.