Fiscal adjustments and income inequality : a first assessment

• Author(s): Agnelllo, Luca ; Sousa, Ricardo M.
• Date: 2012
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/22473
• Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
• Subject(s): Inequality; Fiscal consolidation; Kuznets curve; Openness
• Document Type: Research paper
• Language: English

Description

Using a statistical approach to identify fiscal adjustments, we find that fiscal consolidation appears to shorten the income gap. Fiscal austerity plans that succeed in bringing public debt to a sustainable path seem to be more likely to reduce inequality. Expansionary fiscal adjustments are particularly important to promote changes in the income distribution.