IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/devchg/v55y2024i1p3-37.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Geopolitical Economy of International Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Alan Freeman

Abstract

This article shows that economic inequality between nations has systematically worsened in monetary terms since 1950, and that the principal explanator is inequality between blocs of nations, notably the persistent gap between the Global North and Global South. By 2022, the GDP per capita of the North was 12 times greater than that of the South, this ratio being twice as great as in 1950. This general trend has two consistent exceptions, China and Vietnam. There was also a brief reversal of the trend from 2000 to 2012. However, except for China and Vietnam, it has resumed since then. The article shows that both the Global South and North are coherent entities: they are historically stable and converge internally while diverging from each other. It assesses the implications for international inequality and convergence research and draws out some consequences for world geopolitical relations. Finally, the article sets out the case for an international classification standard that facilitates systematic research into inter‐bloc inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Alan Freeman, 2024. "The Geopolitical Economy of International Inequality," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 55(1), pages 3-37, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:55:y:2024:i:1:p:3-37
    DOI: 10.1111/dech.12812
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/dech.12812
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/dech.12812?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Galor, Oded, 1996. "Convergence? Inferences from Theoretical Models," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 106(437), pages 1056-1069, July.
    2. Facundo Alvaredo & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Lucas Chancel & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "World Inequality Report 2018," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01885458, HAL.
    3. Bourguignon, Francois, 1979. "Decomposable Income Inequality Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(4), pages 901-920, July.
    4. Alan Freeman, 2009. "The Poverty of Statistics and the Statistics of Poverty," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(8), pages 1427-1448.
    5. Freeman, Alan, 2008. "The Poverty of Statistics," MPRA Paper 16827, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Aug 2009.
    6. Farhad Rassekh, 1998. "The Convergence Hypothesis: History, Theory, and Evidence," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 9(1), pages 85-105, January.
    7. Lambert, Peter J & Aronson, J Richard, 1993. "Inequality Decomposition Analysis and the Gini Coefficient Revisited," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 103(420), pages 1221-1227, September.
    8. Paul M. Romer, 1994. "The Origins of Endogenous Growth," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 8(1), pages 3-22, Winter.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Muhammad Masood Azeem & Amin W. Mugera & Steven Schilizzi & Kadambot H. M. Siddique, 2017. "An Assessment of Vulnerability to Poverty in Punjab, Pakistan: Subjective Choices of Poverty Indicators," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 134(1), pages 117-152, October.
    2. Federico Attili, 2024. "Uncovering Complexities in Horizontal Inequality: A Novel Decomposition of the Gini Index," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 351-376, June.
    3. Guido Erreygers & Roselinde Kessels & Linkun Chen & Philip Clarke, 2016. "Decomposing Socioeconomic Inequality of Health," EcoMod2016 9574, EcoMod.
    4. Turnovsky, S., 2000. "Growth in an Open Economy: some Recent Developments," Papers 5, Warwick - Development Economics Research Centre.
    5. Tom Van Ourti & Philip Clarke, 2008. "The Bias of the Gini Coefficient due to Grouping," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 08-095/3, Tinbergen Institute.
    6. Ka Yui Leung, Charles & Quah, Danny T., 1996. "Convergence, endogenous growth, and productivity disturbances," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 535-547, December.
    7. Pérez-Mesa, David & Marrero, Gustavo A. & Darias-Curvo, Sara, 2021. "Child health inequality in Sub-Saharan Africa," MPRA Paper 108801, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Juan Pablo Mateo, 2017. "Capital accumulation in the center and the periphery along the neoliberal period: A comparative analysis of the United States, Spain and Brazil," Working Papers 1723, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    9. Marrero, Gustavo A. & Rodríguez, Juan G., 2013. "Inequality of opportunity and growth," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 107-122.
    10. Yoonseok Lee & Donggyun Shin, 2016. "Measuring Social Tension from Income Class Segregation," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 34(3), pages 457-471, July.
    11. Durlauf, Steven N. & Quah, Danny T., 1999. "The new empirics of economic growth," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 4, pages 235-308, Elsevier.
    12. Fulvio Castellacci, 2007. "Evolutionary And New Growth Theories. Are They Converging?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(3), pages 585-627, July.
    13. Ben Fine, 1998. "Endogenous Growth Theory: A Critical Assessment," Working Papers 80, Department of Economics, SOAS University of London, UK.
    14. Azeem, Muhammad Masood & Mugera, Amin W. & Schilizzi, Steven, 2016. "Poverty and vulnerability in the Punjab, Pakistan: A multilevel analysis," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 57-72.
    15. Marco Ranaldi, 2016. "On the Measurement of Functional Income Distribution," Documents de travail du Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne 16051, Université Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris 1), Centre d'Economie de la Sorbonne.
    16. Takahiro Akita, 2017. "Educational Expansion and the Role of Education in Expenditure Inequality in Indonesia Since the 1997 Financial Crisis," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 130(3), pages 1165-1186, February.
    17. Chowdhury, K, 2005. "What´s Happening to Per Capita Gdp in the ASEAN Countries?. An Analysis of Convergence, 1960-2001," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 5(3).
    18. repec:grz:wpsses:2015-02 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Petrakis, P.E. & Stamatakis, D., 2005. "Human capital, growth and convergence traps: Implications from a cross-country analysis," Proceedings of the German Development Economics Conference, Kiel 2005 26, Verein für Socialpolitik, Research Committee Development Economics.
    20. Stephen Dobson & Carlyn Ramlogan & Eric Strobl, 2006. "Why Do Rates Of Β‐Convergence Differ? A Meta‐Regression Analysis," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 53(2), pages 153-173, May.
    21. Motonishi, Taizo, 2006. "Why has income inequality in Thailand increased?: An analysis using surveys from 1975 to 1998," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 464-487, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:devchg:v:55:y:2024:i:1:p:3-37. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journal.asp?ref=0012-155X .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.