STRUCTURAL DETERMINANTS OF INCOME INEQUALITY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION: EVIDENCE FROM A PANEL ANALYSIS

Giuseppina Malerba () and Marta Spreafico
Additional contact information
Giuseppina Malerba: Institute of Economic Policy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Via Necchi 5, 20123 Milano, Italy
Marta Spreafico: Institute of Economic Policy, Catholic University of the Sacred Heart, Via Necchi 5, 20123 Milano, Italy

Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali, 2014, vol. 122, issue 1, 37-84

Abstract: Understanding the reasons underlying income inequality has been the aim of much research in recent years. However, there are few structural investigations of the effects of the forces shaping the evolution of income inequality specifically between advanced economies. This paper proposes a theoretical framework of the factors affecting income distribution in a particular set of advanced economies, namely those of the European Union, and utilizes a fifteen-year panel (1995-2010) of 25 countries to identify the effects of several structural determinants of household income inequality. Our empirical analysis shows that families with children, shares of housing owners paying a loan, social mobility and labour markets institutions are the main structural determinants of income inequality in the EU. Also significant are the effects of economic growth and social spending for both monetary transfers and universal services. The paper concludes by providing some policy indications based on these main findings.

Keywords: Household disposable income distribution; European Union; Structural determinants; Panel models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C33 D31 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
http://riss.vitaepensiero.it/scheda-articolo_digit ... 001_0037-218074.html (text/html)
Yes

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:vep:journl:y:2014:v:122:i:1:p:37-84

Access Statistics for this article

Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali is currently edited by Maurizio Baussola

More articles in Rivista Internazionale di Scienze Sociali from Vita e Pensiero, Pubblicazioni dell'Universita' Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Vep - Vita e Pensiero ().