Drivers of income inequality in OECD countries : testing the Milanovic's TOP hypothesis

Lazović Vuković, Danijela (avtor), Damijan, Jože (avtor)

This paper studies the drivers of rising income inequality in OECD countries between 1980 and 2018. By testing Milanovic’s TOP hypothesis in our sample, we measure the extent to which these distributional outcomes have been driven by either technological progress or globalization and the extent to which they have been influenced or mitigated by policy choices. The results of our empirical analysis provide the basis for confirming the TOP hypothesis. We find evidence that a 10 percent increase in trade openness, financial globalization, and technological progress is on average associated with a 0.4 percent, 0.3 percent, and 0.9 percent change in market inequality, respectively. At the same time, policies such as public expenditure on education, employment protection legislation and direct income taxes promote a more equal distribution. Our most notable finding, however, is that policies not only have a direct equalizing effect, but also mitigate the effects of globalization and technological progress on income inequality. The results of our study suggest that there are reasonable alternatives to anti-globalization strategies and that redistributive and labor market policies can be tailored to control inequality in the era of globalization and technology.

• Jezik: Angleški jezik
• Ključne besede: income distribution, pay gap, globalization, income inequality, technological progress, policy
• Vrsta gradiva: Članek v reviji
• Tipologija: 1.01 - Izvirni znanstveni članek
• Organizacija: EF - Ekonomska fakulteta
• Status publikacije: Objavljeno
• Različica publikacije: Objavljena publikacija
• Leto izida: 2025
• Št. strani: Str. 416-440
• Številčenje: Vol. 74
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-168994
• UDK: 331.2
• ISSN pri članku: 0954-349X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.strueco.2025.04.004
• COBISS.SI-ID: 233496579
• Datum objave v RUL: 06.05.2025

Gradivo je del revije

• Naslov: Structural change and economic dynamics
• Skrajšan naslov: Struct. chang. econ. dyn.
• Založnik: Elsevier
• ISSN: 0954-349X
• COBISS.SI-ID: 5096988

Licence

• Licenca: CC BY-NC 4.0, Creative Commons Priznanje avtorstva-Nekomercialno 4.0 Mednarodna
• Povezava: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.sl
• Opis: Licenca Creative Commons, ki prepoveduje komercialno uporabo, vendar uporabniki ne rabijo upravljati materialnih avtorskih pravic na izpeljanih delih z enako licenco.

Sekundarni jezik

• Jezik: Slovenski jezik
• Ključne besede: razdelitev dohodka, dohodkovna neenakost, globalizacija