IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pke/wpaper/pkwp1918.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Wealth inequality and aggregate demand

Author

Listed:
  • Stefan Ederer

    (Austrian Institute of Economic Research (AT))

  • Miriam Rehm

Abstract

The paper investigates how including the distribution of wealth changes the demand effects of redistributing functional income. It develops a model with an endogenous wealth distribution and shows that the endogenous rise in wealth inequality resulting from a redistribution towards profits weakens the growth effects of this redistribution. Consequently, a wage-led regime becomes more strongly wage-led. A profit-led regime on the other hand becomes less profit-led and there may even be a regime switch – in this case the short-run profit-led economy becomes wage-led in the long run due to the endogenous effects of wealth inequality. The paper thereby provides a possible explanation for the instability of demand regimes over time.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Ederer & Miriam Rehm, 2019. "Wealth inequality and aggregate demand," Working Papers PKWP1918, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    • Handle: RePEc:pke:wpaper:pkwp1918
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.postkeynesian.net/downloads/working-papers/PKWP1918.pdf
    File Function: First version, 2019
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Robert A. Blecker, 2016. "Wage-led versus profit-led demand regimes: the long and the short of it," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 4(4), pages 373-390, October.
    2. Eckhard Hein, 2007. "Interest Rate, Debt, Distribution And Capital Accumulation In A Post‐Kaleckian Model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(2), pages 310-339, May.
    3. Lance Taylor, 2014. "The Triumph of the Rentier? Thomas Piketty vs. Luigi Pasinetti & John Maynard Keynes," SCEPA working paper series. 2014-7, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    4. Amitava Krishna Dutt, 1990. "Interest Rate Policy in LDCs: A Post Keynesian View," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 210-232, December.
    5. Mark Setterfield, 2016. "Wage- versus profit-led growth after 25 years: an introduction," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 4(4), pages 367-372, October.
    6. Engelbert Stockhammer & Stefan Ederer, 2008. "Demand effects of the falling wage share in Austria," Empirica, Springer;Austrian Institute for Economic Research;Austrian Economic Association, vol. 35(5), pages 481-502, December.
    7. Lance Taylor & Ozlem Omer & Armon Rezai, 2015. "Wealth Concentration, Income Distribution, and Alternatives for the USA," Working Papers Series 17, Institute for New Economic Thinking.
    8. Thomas I. Palley, 2017. "Wage- vs. profit-led growth: the role of the distribution of wages in determining regime character," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 41(1), pages 49-61.
    9. Nicholas Kaldor, 1955. "Alternative Theories of Distribution," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 23(2), pages 83-100.
    10. Stefan Ederer & Maximilian Mayerhofer & Miriam Rehm, 2021. "Rich and ever richer? Differential returns across socioeconomic groups," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 44(2), pages 283-301, April.
    11. Thomas I. Palley, 1994. "Debt, Aggregate Demand, and The Business Cycle: an Analysis in the Spirit of Kaldor and Minsky," Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 371-390, March.
    12. Harcourt,G. C., 1972. "Some Cambridge Controversies in the Theory of Capital," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521096720, September.
    13. R. F. Kahn, 1959. "Exercises In The Analysis Of Growth," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 143-156.
    14. Luigi L. Pasinetti, 1962. "Rate of Profit and Income Distribution in Relation to the Rate of Economic Growth," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 29(4), pages 267-279.
    15. Lance Taylor & Armon Rezai & Rishabh Kumar & Nelson Barbosa & Laura Carvalho, 2017. "Wage increases, transfers, and the socially determined income distribution in the USA," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 259-275, April.
    16. Özlem Onaran & Giorgos Galanis, 2014. "Income Distribution and Growth: A Global Model," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 46(10), pages 2489-2513, October.
    17. Engelbert Stockhammer & Rafael Wildauer, 2016. "Debt-driven growth? Wealth, distribution and demand in OECD countries," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(6), pages 1609-1634.
    18. Lance Taylor, 2014. "The Triumph of the Rentier? Thomas Piketty vs. Luigi Pasinetti and John Maynard Keynes," International Journal of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(3), pages 4-17, July.
    19. Eckhard Hein, 2012. "Finance-dominated capitalism, re-distribution, household debt and financial fragility in a Kaleckian distribution and growth model," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 65(260), pages 11-51.
    20. Stefan Ederer & Miriam Rehm, 2018. "Making sense of Piketty’s ‘fundamental laws’ in a Post-Keynesian framework," Working Papers PKWP1808, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    21. David Kiefer & Codrina Rada, 2015. "Profit maximising goes global: the race to the bottom," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(5), pages 1333-1350.
    22. Bhaduri, Amit & Marglin, Stephen, 1990. "Unemployment and the Real Wage: The Economic Basis for Contesting Political Ideologies," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 14(4), pages 375-393, December.
    23. Michalis Nikiforos, 2016. "On the ‘utilisation controversy’: a theoretical and empirical discussion of the Kaleckian model of growth and distribution," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(2), pages 437-467.
    24. Taylor, Lance, 1985. "A Stagnationist Model of Economic Growth," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 9(4), pages 383-403, December.
    25. Stockhammer, Engelbert, 2011. "Wage-led growth: An introduction," Economics Discussion Papers 2011-1, School of Economics, Kingston University London.
    26. Tavani, Daniele & Vasudevan, Ramaa, 2014. "Capitalists, workers, and managers: Wage inequality and effective demand," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 120-131.
    27. Amitava Krishna Dutt, 2006. "Aggregate Demand, Aggregate Supply and Economic Growth," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 20(3), pages 319-336.
    28. Engelbert Stockhammer & Özlem Onaran & Stefan Ederer, 2009. "Functional income distribution and aggregate demand in the Euro area," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 33(1), pages 139-159, January.
    29. Thomas I. Palley, 2015. "The middle class in macroeconomics and growth theory: a three-class neo-Kaleckian–Goodwin model," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(1), pages 221-243.
    30. Laura Carvalho & Armon Rezai, 2016. "Personal income inequality and aggregate demand," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(2), pages 491-505.
    31. Blecker, Robert A, 1989. "International Competition, Income Distribution and Economic Growth," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 13(3), pages 395-412, September.
    32. Michalis Nikiforos, 2016. "Distribution-led growth in the long run," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 4(4), pages 391-408, October.
    33. Mark Setterfield & Yun K. Kim, 2017. "Household borrowing and the possibility of 'consumption-driven, profit-led growth'," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 5(1), pages 43-60, January.
    34. José Barrales & Rudiger von Arnim, 2017. "Longer-run distributive cycles: wavelet decompositions for the US, 1948–2011," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 196-217, April.
    35. Amit Bhaduri, 2011. "Financialization in the Light of Keynesian Theory," PSL Quarterly Review, Economia civile, vol. 64(256), pages 7-21.
    36. Engelbert Stockhammer & Robert Stehrer, 2011. "Goodwin or Kalecki in Demand? Functional Income Distribution and Aggregate Demand in the Short Run," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 43(4), pages 506-522, December.
    37. Lance Taylor & Duncan K Foley & Armon Rezai, 2019. "Demand drives growth all the way: Goodwin, Kaldor, Pasinetti and the Steady State," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 43(5), pages 1333-1352.
    38. Luigi L. Pasinetti, 1983. "Conditions of Existence of a Two Class Economy in the Kaldor and More General Models of Growth and Income Distribution," Kyklos, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 91-102, August.
    39. repec:bla:ecorec:v:45:y:1969:i:111:p:373-85 is not listed on IDEAS
    40. Nelson H. Barbosa‐Filho & Lance Taylor, 2006. "Distributive And Demand Cycles In The Us Economy—A Structuralist Goodwin Model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 57(3), pages 389-411, July.
    41. Michalis Nikiforos & Duncan K. Foley, 2012. "Distribution And Capacity Utilization: Conceptual Issues And Empirical Evidence," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 63(1), pages 200-229, February.
    42. N. F. Laing, 1969. "Two Notes on Pasinetti's Theorem," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 45(3), pages 373-385, September.
    43. Eckhard Hein, 2014. "Distribution and Growth after Keynes," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 15903.
    44. Marc Lavoie, 1998. "The Neo-Pasinetti Theorem in Cambridge and Kaleckian Models of Growth and Distribution," Eastern Economic Journal, Eastern Economic Association, vol. 24(4), pages 417-434, Fall.
    45. Amitava Krishna Dutt, 1995. "Internal Finance And Monopoly Power In Capitalist Economies: A Reformulation Of Steindl'S Growth Model," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 16-34, February.
    46. Marc Lavoie & Stockhammer Engelbert, 2013. "Wage-Led Growth: An Equitable Strategy for Economic Recovery," Post-Print hal-01343664, HAL.
    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. Tonni, Lorenzo, 2021. "Personal income distribution and the endogeneity of the demand regime," MPRA Paper 108298, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Kapeller, Jakob & Leitch, Stuart & Wildauer, Rafael, 2023. "Can a European wealth tax close the green investment gap?," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).

    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. Eckhard Hein, 2017. "Post-Keynesian macroeconomics since the mid 1990s: main developments," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 14(2), pages 131-172, September.
    2. Robert A. Blecker, 2016. "Wage-led versus profit-led demand regimes: the long and the short of it," Review of Keynesian Economics, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 4(4), pages 373-390, October.
    3. Robert A Blecker & Michael Cauvel & Y K Kim, 2022. "Systems estimation of a structural model of distribution and demand in the US economy," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 46(2), pages 391-420.
    4. Roberto Veneziani & Luca Zamparelli & Amitava Krishna Dutt, 2017. "Heterodox Theories Of Economic Growth And Income Distribution: A Partial Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1240-1271, December.
    5. Marques, André M. & Lima, Gilberto Tadeu, 2022. "Testing for Granger causality in quantiles between the wage share in income and productive capacity utilization," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 290-312.
    6. Cem Oyvat & Oğuz Öztunalı & Ceyhun Elgin, 2020. "Wage‐led versus profit‐led demand: A comprehensive empirical analysis," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 71(3), pages 458-486, July.
    7. Engelbert Stockhammer, 2015. "Wage-led versus profit-led demand: What have we learned? A Kalecki-Minsky view," Working Papers PKWP1512, Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES).
    8. Stockhammer, Engelbert & Rabinovich, Joel & Reddy, Niall, 2017. "Distribution, wealth and demand regimes in historical perspective. USA, UK, France and Germany, 1855-2010," Economics Discussion Papers 2017-5, School of Economics, Kingston University London.
    9. Prante, Franz J., 2019. "Income distribution and the multiplier: An exploration of nonlinear distribution effects in linear Kaleckian distribution and growth models," IPE Working Papers 121/2019, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    10. Dávila-Fernández, Marwil J. & Sordi, Serena, 2019. "Distributive cycles and endogenous technical change in a BoPC growth model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 216-233.
    11. Parui, Pintu, 2021. "The Macroeconomic Effects of Financialization and the Wage Gap between Blue and White Collar Workers," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 416-443.
    12. Engelbert Stockhammer & Joel Rabinovich & Niall Reddy, 2018. "Distribution, wealth and demand regimes in historical perspective," FMM Working Paper 14-2018, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    13. Oyvat, Cem & Öztunalı, Oğuz & Elgin, Ceyhun, 2018. "Wage-led vs. profit-led growth: a comprehensive empirical analysis," Greenwich Papers in Political Economy 20951, University of Greenwich, Greenwich Political Economy Research Centre.
    14. Engelbert Stockhammer & Rafael Wildauer, 2016. "Debt-driven growth? Wealth, distribution and demand in OECD countries," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 40(6), pages 1609-1634.
    15. João Alcobia & Ricardo Barradas, 2023. "Functional Income Distribution And Secular Stagnation In Europe: An Analysis Of The Post-Keynesian Growth Drivers," Working Papers REM 2023/0283, ISEG - Lisbon School of Economics and Management, REM, Universidade de Lisboa.
    16. Eckhard Hein, 2012. "The Macroeconomics of Finance-Dominated Capitalism – and its Crisis," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 14931.
    17. Köhler, Kasper, 2018. "The limits to profit-wage redistribution: Endogenous regime shifts in Kaleckian models of growth and distribution," IPE Working Papers 112/2018, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).
    18. Betül Mutlugün, 2022. "Endogenous income distribution and aggregate demand: Empirical evidence from heterogeneous panel structural vector autoregression," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 73(2), pages 583-637, May.
    19. Eckhard Hein & Artur Tarassow, 2010. "Distribution, aggregate demand and productivity growth: theory and empirical results for six OECD countries based on a post-Kaleckian model," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 34(4), pages 727-754.
    20. Hein, Eckhard, 2022. "Varieties of demand and growth regimes: Post-Keynesian foundations," IPE Working Papers 196/2022, Berlin School of Economics and Law, Institute for International Political Economy (IPE).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wealth; Distribution; Aggregate Demand;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D33 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Factor Income Distribution
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • E25 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Aggregate Factor Income Distribution
    • E64 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Incomes Policy; Price Policy

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:pke:wpaper:pkwp1918. 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: Jo Michell (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/pksggea.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.