Was Kuznets right?: New evidence on the relationship between structural transformation and inequality

Çinar Baymul and Kunal Sen

No wp-2019-99, WIDER Working Paper Series from World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER)

Abstract: We examine the Kuznets postulate that structural transformation leads to higher inequality using comparable panel data for a large number of developing and developed countries for 1960-2012. Countries are in different stages of structural transformation, being either structurally under-developed, structurally developing or structurally developed. In contrast to the Kuznets hypothesis, we find that the movement of workers to manufacturing unambiguously decreases income inequality, irrespective of the stage of structural transformation that a particular country is in.

Keywords: Structural transformation; Inequality; Kuznets; Double dividend; Manufacturing; Services (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Related works:
Journal Article: Was Kuznets Right? New Evidence on the Relationship between Structural Transformation and Inequality (2020)
Working Paper: Was Kuznets Right? New evidence on the relationship between structural transformation and inequality (2018)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2019-99

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