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Income and Wealth Distributions Along the Business Cycle: Implications from the Neoclassical Growth Model

Author

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  • Maliar Lilia

    (Universidad de Alicante)

  • Maliar Serguei

    (Universidad de Alicante)

  • Mora Juan

    (Universidad de Alicante)

Abstract

This paper studies the business cycle dynamics of income and wealth distributions in the context of the neoclassical growth model where agents are heterogeneous in initial wealth and non-acquired skills. Our economy admits a representative consumer which enables us to characterize distributive dynamics by the evolution of aggregate quantities. We show that inequality in both wealth and income follow a countercyclical pattern: the former is countercyclical because labor income is more sensitive to the business cycle than capital income, while the latter is countercyclical due to the wealth-distribution effect. We find that the predictions of the model about the income distribution dynamics accord well with the U.S. data.

Suggested Citation

  • Maliar Lilia & Maliar Serguei & Mora Juan, 2005. "Income and Wealth Distributions Along the Business Cycle: Implications from the Neoclassical Growth Model," The B.E. Journal of Macroeconomics, De Gruyter, vol. 5(1), pages 1-28, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bpj:bejmac:v:topics.5:y:2005:i:1:n:15
    DOI: 10.2202/1534-5998.1238
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    3. Guzi, Martin & Kahanec, Martin, 2018. "Income Inequality and the Size of Government: A Causal Analysis," IZA Discussion Papers 12015, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    4. Turnovsky, Stephen J. & Garci­a-Peñalosa, Cecilia, 2008. "Distributional dynamics in a neoclassical growth model: The role of elastic labor supply," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 1399-1431, May.
    5. Clemens, Marius & Eydam, Ulrich & Heinemann, Maik, 2023. "Inequality over the business cycle: the role of distributive shocks," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 27(3), pages 571-600, April.
    6. Juan F. Guerra‐Salas, 2018. "Latin America'S Declining Skill Premium: A Macroeconomic Analysis," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(1), pages 620-636, January.
    7. García-Peñalosa, Cecilia & Turnovsky, Stephen J., 2015. "Income Inequality, Mobility, And The Accumulation Of Capital," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 19(6), pages 1332-1357, September.
    8. Juan Guerra-Salas, 2016. "Fiscal Policy, Sectoral Allocation, and the Skill Premium: Explaining the Decline in Latin America’s Income Inequality," Working Papers Central Bank of Chile 779, Central Bank of Chile.
    9. María del Rosario Ruiz Hernández. & Leonardo Adalberto Gatica., 2021. "Efectos de la gran recesión sobre la distribución del ingreso en México. (The Effects of the Great Recession on the Income Distribution in Mexico)," Ensayos Revista de Economia, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Facultad de Economia, vol. 0(1), pages 55-88, May.
    10. Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Stephen J. Turnovsky, 2012. "Income Inequality, Mobility, and the Accumulation of Capital: The Role of Heterogeneous Labor Productivity," Working Papers halshs-00793209, HAL.
    11. Sonan Memon & Irfan A. Qureshi, 2021. "Income inequality and macroeconomic instability," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 758-789, May.
    12. George Vachadze, 2021. "Financial development, income and income inequality," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 16(3), pages 589-628, July.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Neoclassical growth model; heterogeneous agents; aggregation; business cycle; income and wealth distributions; inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C68 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Computable General Equilibrium Models
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles

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