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The international political economy of global inequality

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  • Erin Lockwood

Abstract

While national inequality has made headlines in recent years, income is far more unequally distributed globally than it is within any state. It is striking that global economic inequality has garnered so little attention in International Political Economy (IPE), given the field’s longstanding interest in the distribution of resources and the structure of the global economy. This paper argues that IPE should regard the unequal global distribution of wealth and income as a central research concern and outlines a research agenda for doing so. Drawing on recent work by economists, it argues that global inequality is distinctively political in cause and consequence and sufficiently different from both global poverty and national inequality to constitute a unique object of inquiry. IPE has the theoretical and conceptual tools to study global inequality, but doing so will require bridging divisions between those who consider distributional consequences, though primarily in a national perspective, and those concerned with global hierarchies, but with less regard to national agency and economic policymaking. The effort is worth it, however, given the rich substantive agenda that foregrounding global inequality opens up on a series of topics that have not all (to date) been recognized as the core of the field.

Suggested Citation

  • Erin Lockwood, 2021. "The international political economy of global inequality," Review of International Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 28(2), pages 421-445, March.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:rripxx:v:28:y:2021:i:2:p:421-445
    DOI: 10.1080/09692290.2020.1775106
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. François Bourguignon, 2015. "The Globalization of Inequality," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10433.
    2. Michael Clemens & Claudio Montenegro & Lant Pritchett, 2008. "The Place Premium: Wage Differences for Identical Workers across the U.S. Border," Working Papers 148, Center for Global Development.
    3. Davide Furceri & Mr. Prakash Loungani, 2015. "Capital Account Liberalization and Inequality," IMF Working Papers 2015/243, International Monetary Fund.
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    Cited by:

    1. Linsi, Lukas & Hopkin, Jonathan & Jaupart, Pascal, 2023. "Exporting inequality: US investors and the Americanization of executive pay in the United Kingdom," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113543, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. S T Marchina, 2023. "Valorisation of capital and the externalisation of social reproduction in an era of rising economic inequality," Economic Issues Journal Articles, Economic Issues, vol. 28(1), pages 43-55, March.

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