Links Between Growth, Inequality, and Poverty: A Survey


Book Description

Is there a tradeoff between raising growth and reducing inequality and poverty? This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the complex links between growth, inequality, and poverty, with causation going in both directions. The evidence suggests that growth can be effective in reducing poverty, but its impact on inequality is ambiguous and depends on the underlying sources of growth. The impact of poverty and inequality on growth is likewise ambiguous, as several channels mediate the relationship. But most plausible mechanisms suggest that poverty and inequality reduce growth, at least in the long run. Policies play a role in shaping these relationships and those designed to improve equality of opportunity can simultaneously improve inclusiveness and growth.




Inequality in Financial Inclusion and Income Inequality


Book Description

We investigate the link between gender inequality in financial inclusion and income inequality, with three contributions to the recent literature. First, using a micro-dataset covering 146,000 individuals in over 140 countries, we construct novel, synthetic indices of the intensity of financial inclusion at the individual and country level. Second, we derive the distribution of individual financial access “scores” across countries to document a “Kuznets”-curve in financial inclusion. Third, cross-country regressions confirm that our measure of inequality in financial access is significantly related to income inequality, above and beyond other factors previously highlighted in the literature.




Inequality and Growth


Book Description

Essays exploring the relationship between economic growth and inequality and the implications for policy makers.




Finance and Growth


Book Description

"This paper reviews, appraises, and critiques theoretical and empirical research on the connections between the operation of the financial system and economic growth. While subject to ample qualifications and countervailing views, the preponderance of evidence suggests that both financial intermediaries and markets matter for growth and that reverse causality alone is not driving this relationship. Furthermore, theory and evidence imply that better developed financial systems ease external financing constraints facing firms, which illuminates one mechanism through which financial development influences economic growth. The paper highlights many areas needing additional research"--NBER website




Financial Structure and Economic Growth


Book Description

CD-ROM contains: World Bank data.




Finance and Growth


Book Description

This two-volume collection brings together major contributions to the study of finance and growth. It includes conceptual and empirical papers that use a range of methodologies to discover the connections between financial systems - including financial contracts, markets, and intermediaries - and the functioning of the economy - including economic growth, entrepreneurship, technological innovation, poverty alleviation, the distribution of income, and the structure and volatility of economies. It also discusses contributions to the study of the legal, political, institutional, social capital and policy determinants of financial development. With an original introduction by the editors, this collection is an important resource for students, academics and practitioners.




Finance, Inequality, and Poverty


Book Description

"While substantial research finds that financial development boosts overall economic growth, we study whether financial development disproportionately raises the incomes of the poor and alleviates poverty. Using a broad cross-country sample, we distinguish among competing theoretical predictions about the impact of financial development on changes in income distribution and poverty alleviation. We find that financial development reduces income inequality by disproportionately boosting the incomes of the poor. Countries with better-developed financial intermediaries experience faster declines in measures of both poverty and income inequality. These results are robust to controlling for other country characteristics and potential reverse causality"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.




The Dynamics of Growth in Emerging Economies


Book Description

How can Turkey increase its medium- and long-term growth potential? Despite episodes of fast growth, this has become a vital question for the Turkish economy, in order to avoid being stuck in a middle-income trap. There has been an increase in the number of studies presenting growth in Turkey and quantifying the sources of economic growth, however, due to the difference in the main underlying assumptions and the time period covered in these studies, the results differ. The second strand of literature on growth in Turkey identifies the relative underperformance of the Turkish economy by developing models with microeconomic foundations. Given the fact that there are a large number of studies investigating the macro dynamics of growth in Turkey, the book’s unique focus on the "neglected" issues in growth discussions closes the gap in the existing literature. It addresses the micro, macro, regional, and gender aspects, the environment–energy–growth nexus, as well as the microeconomic dynamics of growth. It also analyses the other significant determinants of long run growth in Turkey such as import dependency and saving-investment decision. The authors provide a macro overview of all of the precluded subjects in order to evaluate them in relation to one other, as well as to derive policy conclusions from them. This book primarily targets academics as well as graduate and undergraduate social sciences and humanities students both in Turkey and other countries. It is also a must read for researchers and policy makers not only in Turkey but also in other developing economies and is of interest to specialists of non-governmental and non-profit organizations.




Economic Growth and Financial Development


Book Description

This book looks into the relationship between financial development, economic growth, and the possibility of a potential capital flight in the transmission process. It also examines the important role that financial institutions, financial markets, and country-level institutional factors play in economic growth and their impact on capital flight in emerging economies. By presenting new theoretical insights and empirical country studies as well as econometric approaches, the authors focus on the relationship between financial development and economic growth with capital flight in the era of financial crisis. Therefore, this book is a must-read for researchers, scholars, and policy-makers, interested in a better understanding of economic growth and financial development of emerging economies alike.




Too Much Finance?


Book Description

This paper examines whether there is a threshold above which financial development no longer has a positive effect on economic growth. We use different empirical approaches to show that there can indeed be "too much" finance. In particular, our results suggest that finance starts having a negative effect on output growth when credit to the private sector reaches 100% of GDP. We show that our results are consistent with the "vanishing effect" of financial development and that they are not driven by output volatility, banking crises, low institutional quality, or by differences in bank regulation and supervision.