Globalization and Inequality: Historical Trends

Kevin O'Rourke

No 8339, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper surveys trends in both international economic integration and inequality over the past 150 years, as well as the links between them. In doing so, it distinguishes between (a) the different dimensions of globalization; and (b) between-country and within-country inequality. Theory suggests that globalization will have very different implications for within-country inequality, depending on the dimension of globalization involved (e.g. trade versus factor flows), on the country concerned, and on the distribution of endowments; the historical record provides ample evidence of this ambiguous relationship. Late 19th century globalization had large effects on within-country income distribution, but the effect on inequality differed greatly across countries: both trade and migration (but not capital flows) made the rich New World more unequal, and the (less rich) Old World more equal. The evidence on the links between within-country inequality and globalization in the late 20th century is mixed. The balance of evidence suggests that globalization has been a force for between-country convergence in both the late 19th and late 20th centuries; long run patterns of divergence are due to other factors (e.g. the unequal spread of the Industrial Revolution).

JEL-codes: F0 N7 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2001-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ifn, nep-ltv and nep-pke
Note: ITI
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Published as Reprinted in Aussenwirtschaft 57, 1 (2002): 65-101.
Published as O'Rourke, Kevin H. “Globalization and inequality: historical trends.” Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics (2001/2): 39-67.

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.nber.org/papers/w8339.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Globalization and Inequality: Historical Trends (2002)
Working Paper: Globalization and Inequality: Historical Trends (2001)
Working Paper: Globalization and Inequality: Historical Trends (2001)
Working Paper: Globalization and Inequality: Historical Trends (2001)
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:nbr:nberwo:8339

Ordering information: This working paper can be ordered from
http://www.nber.org/papers/w8339

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.. Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by ().