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Income inequality and social well-being

Author

Listed:
  • Nanak Kakwani

    (University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia)

  • Hyun H. Son

    (Asian Development Bank, Manila, Philippines)

Abstract

Deepening inequality has become the subject of intense debates, particularly on growth, poverty, and development. This paper shows that inequality has a bearing on well-being, which comprises a set of capabilities indicating the extent of freedom individuals have in leading their lives. It examines inequality in different dimensions of well-being across Brazilian municipalities and measures the impact of income inequality on well-being. Findings reveal that Brazil has improved outcomes related to material well-being, health, education, living conditions, and labor market activities, and has reduced disparities in these areas. The study finds that income inequality hampers growth in well-being, except for indicators closely associated with education and human capital development. Findings suggest that while the impacts of income inequality differ across various dimensions of well-being, reducing inequality will generally help improve the well-being of a society

Suggested Citation

  • Nanak Kakwani & Hyun H. Son, 2015. "Income inequality and social well-being," Working Papers 380, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    • Handle: RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2015-380
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    File URL: http://www.ecineq.org/milano/WP/ECINEQ2015-380.pdf
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    2. Dietrich Stauffer, 2016. "Income inequality in the 21st century — A biased summary of Piketty’s capital in the twenty-first century," International Journal of Modern Physics C (IJMPC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 27(02), pages 1-6, February.
    3. Basu, Kaushik, 2016. "Globalization of labor markets and the growth prospects of nations," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 656-669.
    4. Tanadej Vechsuruck, 2017. "A Global Analysis of Income Distribution and Capacity Utilization Interactions: The Structuralist View JEL Classification: C23, D3, O11, O47," Working Paper Series, Department of Economics, University of Utah 2017_08, University of Utah, Department of Economics.
    5. Bartling Björn & Grieder Manuel & Zehnder Christian, 2014. "Does competition justify inequality?," ECON - Working Papers 158, Department of Economics - University of Zurich, revised Nov 2015.
    6. Ben Etheridge, 2016. "Sell, Friedrich L.: The new economics of income distribution: introducing equilibrium concepts into a contested field," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 119(2), pages 171-173, October.
    7. Florida, Richard & Mellander, Charlotta, 2017. "Innovation, Skill, and Economic Segregation," Working Paper Series in Economics and Institutions of Innovation 456, Royal Institute of Technology, CESIS - Centre of Excellence for Science and Innovation Studies.

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