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Wage- vs. profit-led growth: the role of the distribution of wages in determining regime character

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  • Thomas I. Palley

Abstract

The wage- versus profit-led distinction is a cornerstone of post-Keynesian growth theory. However, the existing theoretical literature focuses on the functional distribution of income and ignores the distribution of wages. This paper shows how the distribution of wages affects whether an economy is wage- or profit-led. Since the distribution of wages impacts personal income distribution, that explains why income inequality can also impact regime character. Increases in workers’ wage share always increase growth and capacity utilization regardless of the economy’s character. Furthermore, an increase in workers’ wage share can flip an economy from being profit-led to wage-led.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas I. Palley, 2017. "Wage- vs. profit-led growth: the role of the distribution of wages in determining regime character," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(1), pages 49-61.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:cambje:v:41:y:2017:i:1:p:49-61.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/cje/bew004
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Robert A. Blecker, 2016. "Wage-led versus profit-led demand regimes: the long and the short of it," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 4(4), pages 373-390, October.
    2. A Heise, 2020. "Wage-led and profit-led regime research – promising scientific research programme or scientific cul-de-sac?," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 25(2), pages 31-49, September.
    3. Ferri, Piero & Cristini, Annalisa & Tramontana, Fabio, 2023. "Meta-models of the Phillips curve and income distribution," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 215-232.
    4. Hansen, Mads R., 2024. "Demand regimes and the business-cycle: Feedback effects between capacity utilization and income distribution taking into account overhead labor - SVAR-estimates for Germany (2007 - 2021)," IPE Working Papers 227/2024, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    5. Jose Perez-Montiel & Carles Manera Erbina, 2019. "Investment Sustained by Consumption: A Linear and Nonlinear Time Series Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-15, August.
    6. Alexis Habiyaremye & Olebogeng Molewa & Pelontle Lekomanyane, 2022. "Estimating Employment Gains of the Proposed Infrastructure Stimulus Plan in Post-Covid-19 South Africa," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(1), pages 540-567, February.
    7. Mark Setterfield, 2024. "The Kalecki-Robinson Tradition in Post-Keynesian Growth Theory," Working Papers 2402, New School for Social Research, Department of Economics.
    8. Parui, Pintu, 2021. "The Macroeconomic Effects of Financialization and the Wage Gap between Blue and White Collar Workers," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 416-443.
    9. Hein, Eckhard, 2022. "Varieties of demand and growth regimes: Post-Keynesian foundations," IPE Working Papers 196/2022, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    10. Hein, Eckhard & Prante, Franz, 2018. "Functional distribution and wage inequality in recent Kaleckian growth models," IPE Working Papers 110/2018, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    11. Habiyaremye, Alexis & Jacobs, Peter & Molewa, Olebogeng & Lekomanyane, Pelontle, 2021. "Macroeconomic stimulus packages and income inequality in developing countries: Lessons from the 2007-9 Great Recession for the Covid-19 crisis in South Africa," MERIT Working Papers 2021-006, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    12. Jungmann, Benjamin, 2021. "Growth drivers in emerging capitalist economies before and after the Global Financial Crisis," IPE Working Papers 172/2021, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    13. Benjamin Jungmann, 2023. "Growth drivers in emerging capitalist economies: building blocks for a post-Keynesian analysis and an empirical exploration of the years before and after the Global Financial Crisis," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 4(2), pages 349-386, July.
    14. Eckhard Hein, 2017. "Post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid 1990s: main developments," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(2), pages 131-172, September.
    15. Stefan Ederer & Miriam Rehm, 2021. "Wealth inequality and aggregate demand," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 72(2), pages 405-424, May.
    16. Oyvat, Cem & Öztunalı, Oğuz & Elgin, Ceyhun, 2018. "Wage-led vs. profit-led growth: a comprehensive empirical analysis," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 20951, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    17. Prante, Franz J., 2019. "Income distribution and the multiplier: An exploration of nonlinear distribution effects in linear Kaleckian distribution and growth models," IPE Working Papers 121/2019, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    18. Arthur Brackmann Netto, 2018. "From Classes to Individuals: Standardizing a Link Between Personal and Functional Distribution," Working Papers, Department of Economics 2018_15, University of São Paulo (FEA-USP).
    19. James Wood & Engelbert Stockhammer, 2020. "House prices, private debt and the macroeconomics of comparative political economy," Working Papers PKWP2005, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    20. Won Jun Nah & Lavoie, Marc, 2018. "Overhead labour costs in a neo-Kaleckian growth model with autonomous expenditures," IPE Working Papers 111/2018, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wage-led; Profit-led; Wage distribution; Personal income distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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