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Lucas vs. Lucas: On Inequality and Growth

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  • Mr. Juan P Cordoba
  • Ms. Genevieve Verdier

Abstract

Lucas (2004) asserts that "Of the tendencies that are harmful to sound economics, the most seductive, and in my opinion the most poisonous, is to focus on questions of distribution... The potential for improving the lives of poor people by finding different ways of distributing current production is nothing compared to the apparently limitless potential of increasing production." In this paper we evaluate this claim using an extended version of Lucas' (1987) welfare-evaluation framework. Surprisingly, we find that the welfare costs of inequality outweigh the benefits of growth in most cases. These calculations support the case for a research agenda that treats not only growth but also inequality as a priority.

Suggested Citation

  • Mr. Juan P Cordoba & Ms. Genevieve Verdier, 2007. "Lucas vs. Lucas: On Inequality and Growth," IMF Working Papers 2007/017, International Monetary Fund.
    • Handle: RePEc:imf:imfwpa:2007/017
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    Cited by:

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    2. Córdoba, Juan Carlos & Verdier, Geneviève, 2008. "Inequality and growth: Some welfare calculations," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 32(6), pages 1812-1829, June.
    3. Petr Blizkovsky, 2012. "Are We Living in a Converging World? Regional Disparities and Convergences from a Global Perspective," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 3(2), pages 41-51, September.
    4. Jesse Perla & Christopher Tonetti, 2014. "Equilibrium Imitation and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 122(1), pages 52-76.
    5. Kemp, Jordan T. & Bettencourt, Luís M.A., 2022. "Statistical dynamics of wealth inequality in stochastic models of growth," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 607(C).
    6. Jesse Perla & Christopher Tonetti, 2012. "Endogenous Risk and Growth," 2012 Meeting Papers 479, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    7. Michał Gradzewicz & Krzysztof Makarski & Joanna Tyrowicz, 2013. "Do We Really Need to Start From Scratch? Economic Theory on Economic Crises," Working Papers 2013-17, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    WP; economic growth;

    JEL classification:

    • E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution

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