IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v32y2020ics1544612319301576.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The long-run relationship between finance and income inequality: Evidence from panel data

Author

Listed:
  • Thornton, John
  • Tommaso, Caterina Di

Abstract

We use heterogeneous panel cointegration techniques to examine the long-run effect of financial development on income inequality in a panel of 119 countries from 1980 to 2015. We include real GDP per capita in the cointegration relation and explicitly deal with cross-sectional dependence in the data that arises due to unobserved common factors. On average, financial development reduces income inequality in the long-run, with the result robust to different measures of finance and across country income groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Thornton, John & Tommaso, Caterina Di, 2020. "The long-run relationship between finance and income inequality: Evidence from panel data," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 32(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:32:y:2020:i:c:s1544612319301576
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2019.04.036
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612319301576
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2019.04.036?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2006. "Estimation and Inference in Large Heterogeneous Panels with a Multifactor Error Structure," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 74(4), pages 967-1012, July.
    2. de Haan, Jakob & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2017. "Finance and income inequality: A review and new evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 171-195.
    3. Matías Braun & Francisco Parro & Patricio Valenzuela, 2019. "Does Finance Alter The Relation Between Inequality And Growth?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 57(1), pages 410-428, January.
    4. Kim, Dong-Hyeon & Lin, Shu-Chin, 2011. "Nonlinearity in the financial developmentâincome inequality nexus," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(3), pages 310-325, September.
    5. Oded Galor & Omer Moav, 2004. "From Physical to Human Capital Accumulation: Inequality and the Process of Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 71(4), pages 1001-1026.
    6. Greenwood, Jeremy & Jovanovic, Boyan, 1990. "Financial Development, Growth, and the Distribution of Income," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 1076-1107, October.
    7. Fischer, Ronald & Huerta, Diego & Valenzuela, Patricio, 2019. "The inequality-credit nexus," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 105-125.
    8. Oded Galor & Joseph Zeira, 1993. "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(1), pages 35-52.
    9. Era Dabla-Norris & Kalpana Kochhar & Nujin Suphaphiphat & Franto Ricka & Evridiki Tsounta, 2015. "Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality; A Global Perspective," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 15/13, International Monetary Fund.
    10. Katsiaryna Svirydzenka, 2016. "Introducing a New Broad-based Index of Financial Development," IMF Working Papers 2016/005, International Monetary Fund.
    11. Altunbaş, Yener & Thornton, John, 2019. "The impact of financial development on income inequality: A quantile regression approach," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 51-56.
    12. M. Hashem Pesaran, 2007. "A simple panel unit root test in the presence of cross-section dependence," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 265-312.
    13. M. Hashem Pesaran & Badi H. Baltagi, 2007. "Heterogeneity and cross section dependence in panel data models: theory and applications introduction," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 229-232.
    14. Hamori, Shigeyuki & Hashiguchi, Yoshihiro, 2012. "The effect of financial deepening on inequality: Some international evidence," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(4), pages 353-359.
    15. Levine, Ross, 2005. "Finance and Growth: Theory and Evidence," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 12, pages 865-934, Elsevier.
    16. Thorsten Beck & Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine, 2007. "Finance, inequality and the poor," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 27-49, March.
    17. Mohsen Bahmani-Oskooee & Ruixin Zhang, 2015. "On the impact of financial development on income distribution: time-series evidence," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(12), pages 1248-1271, March.
    18. Dierk Herzer & Sebastian Vollmer, 2012. "Inequality and growth: evidence from panel cointegration," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 10(4), pages 489-503, December.
    19. Pesaran, M. Hashem & Vanessa Smith, L. & Yamagata, Takashi, 2013. "Panel unit root tests in the presence of a multifactor error structure," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 175(2), pages 94-115.
    20. Francois, John Nana & Keinsley, Andrew, 2019. "The long-run relationship between public consumption and output in developing countries: Evidence from panel data," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 96-99.
    21. Frederick Solt, 2009. "Standardizing the World Income Inequality Database," Social Science Quarterly, Southwestern Social Science Association, vol. 90(2), pages 231-242, June.
    22. Florence Jaumotte & Subir Lall & Chris Papageorgiou, 2013. "Rising Income Inequality: Technology, or Trade and Financial Globalization?," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 61(2), pages 271-309, June.
    23. Siong Law & Hui Tan & W. Azman-Saini, 2014. "Financial Development and Income Inequality at Different Levels of Institutional Quality," Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(S1), pages 21-33.
    24. Peter Pedroni, 1999. "Critical Values for Cointegration Tests in Heterogeneous Panels with Multiple Regressors," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 653-670, November.
    25. Philippe Aghion & Patrick Bolton, 1997. "A Theory of Trickle-Down Growth and Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(2), pages 151-172.
    26. Peter Pedroni, 2007. "Social capital, barriers to production and capital shares: implications for the importance of parameter heterogeneity from a nonstationary panel approach," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 429-451.
    27. Georg R. G. Clarke & Lixin Colin Xu & Heng-fu Zou, 2006. "Finance and Income Inequality: What Do the Data Tell Us?," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 72(3), pages 578-596, January.
    28. Li, Hongyi & Squire, Lyn & Zou, Heng-fu, 1998. "Explaining International and Intertemporal Variations in Income Inequality," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 108(446), pages 26-43, January.
    29. Ms. Era Dabla-Norris & Ms. Kalpana Kochhar & Mrs. Nujin Suphaphiphat & Mr. Franto Ricka & Ms. Evridiki Tsounta, 2015. "Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality: A Global Perspective," IMF Staff Discussion Notes 2015/013, International Monetary Fund.
    30. Im, Kyung So & Pesaran, M. Hashem & Shin, Yongcheol, 2003. "Testing for unit roots in heterogeneous panels," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 115(1), pages 53-74, July.
    31. Frederick Solt, 2009. "Standardizing the World Income Inequality Database," LIS Working papers 496, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    32. Peter Pedroni, 2001. "Purchasing Power Parity Tests In Cointegrated Panels," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(4), pages 727-731, November.
    33. G. S. Maddala & Shaowen Wu, 1999. "A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 61(S1), pages 631-652, November.
    34. repec:bla:obuest:v:61:y:1999:i:0:p:653-70 is not listed on IDEAS
    35. Claessens, Stijn & Perotti, Enrico, 2007. "Finance and inequality: Channels and evidence," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 748-773, December.
    36. repec:bla:obuest:v:61:y:1999:i:0:p:631-52 is not listed on IDEAS
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Byron Quito & María de la Cruz del Río‐Rama & José Álvarez‐García & Ronny Correa‐Quezada, 2022. "Impact factors and space‐time characteristics of income inequality in a global sample," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(6), pages 1850-1868, December.
    2. Cuesta, Lizeth & Ruiz, Yomara, 2021. "Efecto de la globalización sobre la desigualdad. Un estudio global para 104 países usando regresiones cuantílicas [Effect of globalization on inequality. A global study for 104 countries using quan," MPRA Paper 111022, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. John Thornton; Chrysoivalantis Vasilakis, 2024. "The impact of finance on income inequality: a threshold analysis," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 104-111.
    4. Cigdem KARIS & Dilek Cil, 2024. "The Impact of Financial Development on Income Inequality: Evidence from OECD Countries," Istanbul Business Research, Istanbul University Business School, vol. 53(1), pages 103-118, April.
    5. Murat Cetin & Harun Demir & Selin Saygin, 2021. "Financial Development, Technological Innovation and Income Inequality: Time Series Evidence from Turkey," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 156(1), pages 47-69, July.
    6. Sheunesu Zhou & Olivier Niyitegeka, 2023. "On the Dynamic Relationship between Household Debt and Income Inequality in South Africa," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 16(10), pages 1-17, September.
    7. Hao, Yunping & Zhang, Bing, 2024. "The impact of digital financial usage on resident’s income inequality in China: An empirical analysis based on CHFS data," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    8. Bojaj, Martin M. & Djurovic, Gordana & Fabris, Nikola & Milovic, Nikola, 2023. "Top 1% and inequality connectedness in the EMU and WB," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 139-155.

    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. Hsieh, Joyce & Chen, Ting-Cih & Lin, Shu-Chin, 2019. "Financial structure, bank competition and income inequality," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 450-466.
    2. de Haan, Jakob & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2017. "Finance and income inequality: A review and new evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 171-195.
    3. Brei, Michael & Ferri, Giovanni & Gambacorta, Leonardo, 2023. "Financial structure and income inequality," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    4. Anjan K. Saha & Vinod Mishra & Russell Smyth, 2021. "Financial development and top income shares in OECD countries," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 87(3), pages 952-978, January.
    5. Sturm, Jan-Egbert & De Haan, Jakob, 2016. "Finance and income inequality revisited," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145660, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    6. de Haan, Jakob & Sturm, Jan-Egbert, 2017. "Finance and income inequality: A review and new evidence," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 171-195.
    7. Günay ÖZCAN, 2020. "Financial development and income inequality: An empirical analysis on the emerging market economies," Theoretical and Applied Economics, Asociatia Generala a Economistilor din Romania / Editura Economica, vol. 0(3(624), A), pages 85-96, Autumn.
    8. Ọláyínká Oyèkọ́lá, 2021. "Finance and inequality in a panel of US States," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 61(5), pages 2739-2795, November.
    9. Nahid Farnaz, 2023. "Does Financial Development Relieve or Exacerbate Income Inequality? A Quantile Regression Approach," Economics Discussion Paper Series 2311, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    10. Blau, Benjamin M., 2018. "Income inequality, poverty, and the liquidity of stock markets," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), pages 113-126.
    11. Passant M. B. Selim & Hasan Güngör, 2021. "Inequality and financial development: Evidence from selected MENA region countries," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 2732-2747, April.
    12. John Thornton; Chrysoivalantis Vasilakis, 2024. "The impact of finance on income inequality: a threshold analysis," Economics and Business Letters, Oviedo University Press, vol. 13(2), pages 104-111.
    13. Dirk Bezemer & Anna Samarina, 2019. "Debt shift, financial development and income inequality," DNB Working Papers 646, Netherlands Central Bank, Research Department.
    14. Bolarinwa, Segun Thompson & Akinlo, Anthony Enisan, 2021. "Is there a nonlinear relationship between financial development and income inequality in Africa? Evidence from dynamic panel threshold," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    15. Roya Taherifar & Mark J. Holmes & Gazi M. Hassan, 2023. "Does economic openness matter in the impact of financial development on income inequality?," Working Papers in Economics 23/04, University of Waikato.
    16. Dong-Hyeon Kim & Joyce Hsieh & Shu-Chin Lin, 2021. "Financial liberalization, political institutions, and income inequality," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1245-1281, March.
    17. Carolyn Chisadza & Mduduzi Biyase, 2023. "Financial Development and Income Inequality: Evidence From Advanced, Emerging and Developing Economies," Annals of Financial Economics (AFE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 18(01), pages 1-27, March.
    18. Weychert Ewa, 2020. "Financial development and income inequality," Central European Economic Journal, Sciendo, vol. 7(54), pages 84-100, January.
    19. Ghulam Rasool Madni & Awais Anwar, 2021. "Meditation for level of institutional quality to combat income inequality through financial development," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(2), pages 2766-2775, April.
    20. Herzer, Dierk & Nunnenkamp, Peter, 2012. "The effect of foreign aid on income inequality: Evidence from panel cointegration," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 245-255.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; Financial development; Heterogeneous panel cointegration;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • F02 - International Economics - - General - - - International Economic Order and Integration
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

    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:eee:finlet:v:32:y:2020:i:c:s1544612319301576. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    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.