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Inequalities and Patience for Tomorrow

Author

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  • Kazumichi Iwasa

    (Institute of Economic Research, Kyoto University, Japan)

  • Laixun Zhao

    (Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration (RIEB), Kobe University, Japan)

Abstract

This paper examines how impatience interacts with inequalities in economic devel- opment. In a society of intrinsic inequality, we show that (i) poor households tend to bene t more from positive shocks under decreasing marginal impatience (DMI) than un- der constant marginal impatience (CMI) and increasing marginal impatience (IMI); (ii) an unequal society may be preferable for poor households under DMI; (iii) urbanization can increase the income inequality, while raising overall welfare; (iv) under DMI even if all households are allowed to own assets, with di¤erent initial asset holdings, the economy will not converge to the steady state where everybody is a capitalist.

Suggested Citation

  • Kazumichi Iwasa & Laixun Zhao, 2013. "Inequalities and Patience for Tomorrow," Discussion Paper Series DP2013-04, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University.
    • Handle: RePEc:kob:dpaper:dp2013-04
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    References listed on IDEAS

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