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Does Financial Deregulation Boost Top Incomes? Evidence from the Big Bang

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This study estimates the impact of financial deregulation on top income shares. Using the novel econometric method of constructing synthetic control groups, we show that the "Big Bang"-deregulations in the United Kingdom in 1986 and Japan 1997–1999 increased the share of pre-tax incomes going to top earners by over 20 percent in the U.K. and over 10 percent in Japan. The effect is strongest in the top five percentiles in the U.K. whereas it is mainly driven by the lower part of the top decile in Japan. The findings are robust to placebo tests, alternative ways to construct synthetic controls and scrutiny of post-treatment trends. Higher earnings among financial sector employees appear to be an important mechanism behind this result.

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  • Tanndal, Julia & Waldenström, Daniel, 2016. "Does Financial Deregulation Boost Top Incomes? Evidence from the Big Bang," Working Paper Series 1106, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:iuiwop:1106
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; Synthetic control method; Institutions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • J30 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - General
    • N20 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - General, International, or Comparative

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