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Economics

Selected Works

Income distribution

2011

Articles 1 - 5 of 5

Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations

Who Benefits From Economic Development? Reply, Gary S. Fields Nov 2011

Who Benefits From Economic Development? Reply, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] Before the appearance of my 1977 paper in this Review, it was widely thought that the income distribution worsened during the economic growth which took place in Brazil during the 1960's. My paper demonstrated that the familiar data, when analyzed from an absolute perspective, could show that the poor had benefited from growth. I found that the entire income distribution shifted, benefiting every income class; that the proportion of the economically active population with incomes below the poverty level (as defined by Brazilian standards) declined during the decade; that those who remained poor were less poor than before in …


Education And Income Distribution In Developing Countries: A Review Of The Literature, Gary S. Fields Oct 2011

Education And Income Distribution In Developing Countries: A Review Of The Literature, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] This paper is a survey of the available literature on education and income distribution in developing countries. Education may affect the distribution of income in a variety of ways: by raising the level of income; by changing, for better or worse, the dispersion of income; by opening up new opportunities for the children of the poor and thereby serving as a vehicle for social mobility and/or, by limiting participation to the children of the well-to-do, transmitting intergenerational inequality; by offering greater access to favored segments of the population (boys, city-dwellers, certain racial groups); by rewarding differently the education received …


Growth And Distribution In The Market Economies Of East Asia, Gary S. Fields Oct 2011

Growth And Distribution In The Market Economies Of East Asia, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

This is a review and comparison of seven books dealing with income distribution and economic development focusing on the countries of East Asia. The books reviewed are: Irma Adelman and Sherman Robinson, Income Distribution Policy in Developing Countries. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979. Edward K. Y. Chen, Hyper-Growth in Asian Economies: A Comparative Study of Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, and Taiwan. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1979. John C. H. Fei, Gustav Ranis, and Shirley W. Y. Kuo, Growth with Equity: The Taiwan Case. New York: Oxford University Press, 1980. Walter Galenson, ed., Economic Growth and Structural Change …


The Measurement Of Income Mobility: An Introduction To The Literature, Gary S. Fields, Efe A. Ok Aug 2011

The Measurement Of Income Mobility: An Introduction To The Literature, Gary S. Fields, Efe A. Ok

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] Our main purpose in this survey is, therefore, to provide a somewhat unified setting within which the basic features of the theory of income mobility measurement can be outlined. Our aim is to provide a (subjectively) selective introduction to the literature on income mobility, and thereby shed some light on particular aspects of mobility measurement. Consequently, the present study should not be viewed as an exhaustive survey of the related literature. It is rather a very concise account of some key elements of the theory of income mobility measurement.


Do Inequality Measures Measure Inequality?, Gary S. Fields Aug 2011

Do Inequality Measures Measure Inequality?, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] In the literature, much attention has been paid to a number of aspects of inequality including the distinction between relative and absolute inequality, axiomatization of inequality, the Lorenz criterion for inequality comparisons, properties of various inequality measures, and inequality decomposition. In no way do I wish to argue with the main results derived in these areas. Rather, my purpose here is to add to the theory of inequality measurement by dealing with one aspect of inequality which has been largely ignored by economists and by others. This is the question of how inequality changes - in particular, whether it …