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Should less inequality in education lead to a more equal income distribution?

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  • P�ter F�ldv�ri
  • Bas van Leeuwen

Abstract

In this paper, we revisit the question whether inequality in education and human capital is closely related to income inequality. Using the most popular functional forms describing the relationship between, first, output and human capital and, second, education and human capital, we find that the effect of inequality in schooling on income inequality is very low, even insignificant in an economic sense. This is confirmed by our empirical analysis, since we find that the Gini coefficient of education yields an insignificant coefficient. If we take care of the possible simultaneity using a two-stage least-squares (2SLS) analysis, we find that there is no relationship in the case of non-OECD countries, but a positive relationship is found in the case of OECD countries. Also, we cannot confirm that a more equal distribution of education leads to higher income per capita, even though this result is sensitive to the choice of data.

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  • P�ter F�ldv�ri & Bas van Leeuwen, 2011. "Should less inequality in education lead to a more equal income distribution?," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(5), pages 537-554, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:edecon:v:19:y:2011:i:5:p:537-554
    DOI: 10.1080/09645292.2010.488472
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    Cited by:

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    4. Amparo Castelló-Climent & Rafael Doménech, 2020. "Global | Desigualdad de la renta y de capital humano revisitadas [Global | Human capital and income inequality revisited]," Working Papers 20/17, BBVA Bank, Economic Research Department.
    5. Vachaspati Shukla & Udaya S. Mishra, 2020. "Expansion in Education and Its Impact on Income Inequality: Cross-sectional Evidence from India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 63(2), pages 331-362, June.
    6. Thomas Ziesemer, 2022. "Global Dynamics of Gini Coefficients of Education for 146 Countries: Update to 1950-2015 and a Compact Guide to the Literature," Bulletin of Applied Economics, Risk Market Journals, vol. 9(1), pages 85-95.
    7. Adriana AnaMaria Davidescu & Tamara Maria Nae & Margareta-Stela Florescu, 2022. "Exploring the Moderation and Mediation Effects in Addressing the Main Determinants of Income Inequalities in Supporting Quality of Life: Insights from CEE Countries," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(14), pages 1-28, July.
    8. Matthieu Clément & Lucie Piaser, 2022. "Geography of Income and Education Inequalities in Mexico: Evidence from Small Area Estimation and Exploratory Spatial Analysis," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 34(2), pages 703-732, April.
    9. Al Mamun (a) and MD. Arfanuzzaman (b), 2020. "The Effects of Human Capital and Social Factors on the Household Income of Bangladesh: An Econometric Analysis," Journal of Economic Development, Chung-Ang Unviersity, Department of Economics, vol. 45(3), pages 29-49, September.
    10. Gemechis Teshome & Leta Sera & Amsalu Dachito, 2021. "Determinants of income inequality among urban households in Ethiopia: a case of Nekemte Town," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(11), pages 1-21, November.
    11. Takahiro Akita, 2023. "Revisiting educational Kuznets curve: An analysis of educational inequality based on absolute and relative inequality measures," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 43(1), pages 1-7.
    12. Onur Özdemir, 2023. "The determinants of income distribution: the role of progress in human capital," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(5), pages 4193-4227, October.
    13. Vito Peragine & Giorgia Zotti, 2024. "Assessing the extent, the evolution, and the sources of inequality of opportunity in Sierra Leone and The Gambia," SERIES 06-2024, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised Nov 2024.
    14. Thomas Ziesemer, 2016. "Gini Coefficients of Education for 146 Countries, 1950-2010," Bulletin of Applied Economics, Risk Market Journals, vol. 3(2), pages 1-8.
    15. Elena Meschi & Francesco Scervini, 2014. "A new dataset on educational inequality," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 695-716, September.
    16. Yousef Makhlouf & Christopher Lalley, 2023. "Education Expansion, Income Inequality and Structural Transformation: Evidence From OECD Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 169(1), pages 255-281, September.
    17. Clifford Afoakwah & Xin Deng & Ilke Onur, 2023. "Reforms and education inequality in Ghana," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(2), pages 853-878, May.
    18. IBOURK, Aomar & AMAGHOUSS, Jabrane, 2015. "Inequality In Education In The Mena Region: A Macroeconometric Investigation Using Normative Indicators," Applied Econometrics and International Development, Euro-American Association of Economic Development, vol. 15(2), pages 129-146.
    19. Vachaspati Shukla & Udaya S. Mishra, 0. "Expansion in Education and Its Impact on Income Inequality: Cross-sectional Evidence from India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 0, pages 1-32.
    20. Ben-Shahar, Danny & Gabriel, Stuart & Golan, Roni, 2020. "Can't get there from here: Affordability distance to a superstar city," Regional Science and Urban Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    21. Canh, Nguyen Phuc & Schinckus, Christophe & Thanh, Su Dinh & Hui Ling, Felicia Chong, 2020. "Effects of the internet, mobile, and land phones on income inequality and The Kuznets curve: Cross country analysis," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(10).
    22. Popov, Vladimir & Konchakov, Roman & Didenko, Dmitry, 2024. "Human capital in the regions of the Russian Empire and inequality in land distribution at the turn of the 20th century," MPRA Paper 119796, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    23. Takahiro Akita, 2024. "Educational Expansion and Educational Inequality," Working Papers EMS_2024_02, Research Institute, International University of Japan.

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