The Kuznets curve of human capital inequality: 1870–2010

Christian Morrisson and Fabrice Murtin

The Journal of Economic Inequality, 2013, vol. 11, issue 3, 283-301

Abstract: This paper describes the long-term global trends in education inequality since 1870. Inequality in years of schooling is shown to have mechanically decreased along with the decline in the share of illiterate people. In search of a monetary equivalent of years of schooling, we turn to Mincer ( 1974 ) human capital ineq uality. Within countries, we find evidence of an inverted U-shape curve for human capital inequality over time, namely a Kuznets curve for human capital. At the global level, the world inequality in human capital has followed a similar trajectory, first increasing from 1870 to 1970, then decreasing. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media, LLC. 2013

Keywords: Inequality; Human capital; Education; Kuznets curve; D31; E27; F02; N00; O40 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2013
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (34)

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Working Paper: The Kuznets curve of human capital inequality: 1870–2010 (2013)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:kap:jecinq:v:11:y:2013:i:3:p:283-301

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DOI: 10.1007/s10888-012-9227-2

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