(English) Democracy and income inequality: an empirical analysis (Italiano) Democrazia e diseguaglianza, un’analisi empirica

Marco Cellini

IRPPS Working Papers from National Research Council, Institute for Research on Population and Social Policies

Abstract: (English) In this paper I analyze the relation between democracy and income inequality. The literature review shows the presence of four main theoretical lines that explain differently this relation, from time to time as: a linear relation in which democracy affects income inequality; a linear relation in which economic inequality affects democracy; a non-linear relation, which takes the form of the so-called inverted “U”; no statistical relation between democracy and income inequality. Our theoretical model expects that an increase in the quality of democracy within a state reduces, through two channels, the level of income inequality. First channel is a direct one and corresponds to the request of redistributive policies. Second channel is an indirect one and is represented by the increase in the quality of education. The econometric analysis using both a static and a dynamic approach shows empirical evidence supporting the existence of a non-linear and negative relation between democracy and income inequality. (Italiano) In questo paper analizziamo la relazione tra democrazia e diseguaglianza economica. Dalla revisione della letteratura emergono quattro linee teoriche principali che spiegano tale relazione di volta in volta come: una relazione lineare in cui la democrazia influenza la diseguaglianza economica; una relazione lineare in cui la diseguaglianza economica influenza la democrazia; una relazione non lineare, che prende la forma della così detta “U” invertita; nessuna relazione tra democrazia e diseguaglianza economica. Il nostro modello teorico prevede che l’aumento della qualità della democrazia all'interno di uno Stato riduca il livello di diseguaglianza economica, attraverso due canali, uno diretto ovvero la richiesta di politiche redistributive ed uno indiretto ossia l’aumento della qualità dell’istruzione. L’analisi econometrica utilizzando sia un approccio statico che uno dinamico mostra un’evidenza empirica a sostegno dell’esistenza di una relazione negativa e non lineare tra democrazia e diseguaglianza economica in cui all'aumentare della prima la seconda tende a diminuire, almeno fino ad un certo punto.

Keywords: (English) Democracy; Income Inequality (Italiano) Democrazia: Diseguaglianza Economica (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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