IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/man/cgbcrp/06.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

A Model of Trickle Down Through Learning

Author

Listed:
  • K Blackburn
  • N Bose

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of income distribution based on an overlapping generations model of imperfect capital markets, technological non-convexities and information acquisition. Heterogeneous, altruistic agents apply for loans from financial intermediaries to undertake risky investment projects. Borrowing is prohibited below a critical level of wealth that depends on agents' evaluation of risk which is updated over time according to the arrival of new information. This process of learning governs the transition of lineage wealth and, with it, the dynamics of income distribution. In general, limiting outcomes depend on initial conditions that determine the extent to which class divisions persist in multiple steady state equilibria. Such divisions may vanish if the the initial distribution satisfies certain criteria.

Suggested Citation

  • K Blackburn & N Bose, 2001. "A Model of Trickle Down Through Learning," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 06, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    • Handle: RePEc:man:cgbcrp:06
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hummedia.manchester.ac.uk/schools/soss/cgbcr/discussionpapers/dpcgbcr6.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jovanovic, Boyan & Nyarko, Yaw, 1996. "Learning by Doing and the Choice of Technology," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(6), pages 1299-1310, November.
    2. Alberto Alesina & Dani Rodrik, 1994. "Distributive Politics and Economic Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 109(2), pages 465-490.
    3. Banerjee, Abhijit V & Newman, Andrew F, 1993. "Occupational Choice and the Process of Development," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(2), pages 274-298, April.
    4. Durlauf, S.N., 1993. "Neighborhood Feedbacks, Endogenous Stratification, and Income Inequality," Working papers 9328, Wisconsin Madison - Social Systems.
    5. Philippe Aghion & Patrick Bolton, 1997. "A Theory of Trickle-Down Growth and Development," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(2), pages 151-172.
    6. Oded Galor & Joseph Zeira, 1993. "Income Distribution and Macroeconomics," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(1), pages 35-52.
    7. Robert Wilson, 1975. "Informational Economies of Scale," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 6(1), pages 184-195, Spring.
    8. Benabou, R., 1992. "Heterogeneity, Stratification, and Growth," Working papers 93-4, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
    9. Persson, Torsten & Tabellini, Guido, 1994. "Is Inequality Harmful for Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(3), pages 600-621, June.
    10. Raquel Fernandez & Richard Rogerson, 1992. "Income Distribution, Communities and the Quality of Public Education: A Policy Analysis," NBER Working Papers 4158, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Acemoglu, Daron & Zilibotti, Fabrizio, 1997. "Was Prometheus Unbound by Chance? Risk, Diversification, and Growth," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(4), pages 709-751, August.
    12. Roberto Perotti, 1993. "Political Equilibrium, Income Distribution, and Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 60(4), pages 755-776.
    13. Lang, William W. & Nakamura, Leonard I., 1990. "The dynamics of credit markets in a model with learning," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 305-318, October.
    14. Atkinson, A B, 1997. "Bringing Income Distribution in from the Cold," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(441), pages 297-321, March.
    15. Andreoni, James, 1989. "Giving with Impure Altruism: Applications to Charity and Ricardian Equivalence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 97(6), pages 1447-1458, December.
    16. Thomas Piketty, 1997. "The Dynamics of the Wealth Distribution and the Interest Rate with Credit Rationing," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 64(2), pages 173-189.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Keith Blackburn & Rashmi Sarmah, 2006. "Red Tape, Corruption and Finance," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 82, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    2. Sushanta K. Mallick, 2014. "Disentangling the Poverty Effects of Sectoral Output, Prices, and Policies in India," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(4), pages 773-801, December.
    3. K Blackburn & D Varvarigos, 2005. "Growth, Uncertainty and Finance," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 48, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    4. Blackburn, Keith & Forgues-Puccio, Gonzalo F., 2007. "Distribution and development in a model of misgovernance," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(6), pages 1534-1563, August.
    5. Keith Blackburn & David Chivers, 2015. "Fearing the worst: the importance of uncertainty for inequality," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 60(2), pages 345-370, October.
    6. Soyolmaa Batbekh & Keith Blackburn, 2008. "On the Macroeconomics of Microfinance," Centre for Growth and Business Cycle Research Discussion Paper Series 106, Economics, The University of Manchester.
    7. Kritsada Patluang, 2018. "Contemporary Frontier Transformation for Inclusive Growth: The Dual Role of "Smart" Competitiveness Factors," GATR Journals jber159, Global Academy of Training and Research (GATR) Enterprise.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Keith Blackburn & David Chivers, 2015. "Fearing the worst: the importance of uncertainty for inequality," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 60(2), pages 345-370, October.
    2. Oded Galor, 2009. "Inequality and Economic Development: An Overview," Working Papers 2009-3, Brown University, Department of Economics.
    3. Bertola, Giuseppe, 2000. "Macroeconomics of distribution and growth," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 9, pages 477-540, Elsevier.
    4. Christophe Ehrhart, 2009. "The effects of inequality on growth: a survey of the theoretical and empirical literature," Working Papers 107, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    5. Joan Esteban & Debraj Ray, 2006. "Inequality, Lobbying, and Resource Allocation," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 257-279, March.
    6. Guido Cozzi & Fabio Privileggi, 2007. "The Fractal Nature of Inequality in a Fast Growing World," Working Papers 2007_45, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    7. Guido Cozzi & Fabio Privileggi, 2002. "Wealth Polarization and Pulverization in Fractal Societies," ICER Working Papers - Applied Mathematics Series 39-2002, ICER - International Centre for Economic Research.
    8. Asli Demirgüç-Kunt & Ross Levine, 2009. "Finance and Inequality: Theory and Evidence," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 1(1), pages 287-318, November.
    9. Gabrieli, Tommaso, 2012. "Inequality, Intergenerational Mobility and Redistributive Policies under Endogenous Information," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 23-49.
    10. Daniele Checchi, 1999. "Inequality in Incomes and Access to Education. A Cross-Country Analysis (1960-90)," Working Papers 21, University of Milano-Bicocca, Department of Economics, revised May 1999.
    11. Bellettini, Giorgio & Berti Ceroni, Carlotta, 2007. "Income distribution, borrowing constraints and redistributive policies," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 625-645, April.
    12. Guido Cozzi & Fabio Privileggi, 2009. "The fractal nature of inequality in a fast growing world: new version," Working Papers 2009_30, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    13. Thomas Leoni & Wolfgang Pollan, 2003. "The Impact of Inequality on Economic Growth," WIFO Working Papers 211, WIFO.
    14. Grossmann, Volker, 2008. "Risky human capital investment, income distribution, and macroeconomic dynamics," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 30(1), pages 19-42, March.
    15. Proto, Eugenio, 2007. "Land and the transition from a dual to a modern economy," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(1), pages 88-108, May.
    16. Oded, Galor, 2011. "Inequality, Human Capital Formation, and the Process of Development," Handbook of the Economics of Education, in: Erik Hanushek & Stephen Machin & Ludger Woessmann (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Education, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 0, pages 441-493, Elsevier.
    17. Hongyi Li & Heng‐fu Zou, 1998. "Income Inequality is not Harmful for Growth: Theory and Evidence," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(3), pages 318-334, October.
    18. Ademola Obafemi Young, 2019. "Growth Impacts of Income Inequality: Empirical Evidence From Nigeria," Research in World Economy, Research in World Economy, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(3), pages 226-262, December.
    19. N'Yilimon Nantob, 2015. "Income Inequality and Inflation in Developing Countries: An Empirical Investigation," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 35(4), pages 2888-2902.
    20. Eicher, Theo S. & Garcia-Penalosa, Cecilia, 2001. "Inequality and growth: the dual role of human capital in development," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 173-197, October.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:man:cgbcrp:06. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Marianne Sensier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/semanuk.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.