Financial development and income distribution inequality in the euro area

Donatella Baiardi and Claudio Morana

Economic Modelling, 2018, vol. 70, issue C, 40-55

Abstract: The paper yields new evidence on real income convergence for euro area (EA) countries since the mid-1980s, with a special focus on the effects of the subprime and sovereign debt financial crises. By conditioning the turning point per capita income of the Kuznets curve (KC) to the level of financial development, we find strong evidence in favor of an EA-wide steady-state financial KC and of ongoing convergence across EA members toward a common per capita income turning point level. By means of a counterfactual analysis, we also point to worsening economic and income inequality conditions for all the EA countries, only partially ensued from “austerity” policies. Hence, a well-functioning financial system and its smooth development appear to be instrumental not only to economic growth, but also to a more egalitarian income distribution.

Keywords: Euro area; Financial development; Financial stability; Income distribution inequality; Kuznets curve; Real convergence; Subprime mortgage and sovereign debt crisis (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G20 G28 O11 O15 O16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (38)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecmode:v:70:y:2018:i:c:p:40-55

DOI: 10.1016/j.econmod.2017.10.008

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