Short-run and long-run determinants of income inequality: evidence from 16 countries

Previous research that has tried to identify the determinants of income inequality has used cross-sectional data, mostly due to a lack of time-series data for individual countries. Any result using cross-sectional data is usually generalized by ignoring country-specific characteristics. Now that time-series data are available for certain countries, we revisit the Kuznets "inverted-U" hypothesis by applying cointegration analysis to annual time-series data from 16 countries. We also investigate the effect of openness on income inequality. We find limited support for Kuznets's hypothesis, and that the effect of both income and openness varies by country.