Income Distribution in Macroeconomic Models

by Giuseppe Bertola, Reto Foellmi, Josef Zweimüller

Overview

This book looks at the distribution of income and wealth and the effects that this has on the macroeconomy, and vice versa. Is a more equal distribution of income beneficial or harmful for macroeconomic growth, and how does the distribution of wealth evolve in a market economy? Taking stock of results and methods developed in the context of the 1990s revival of growth theory, the authors focus on capital accumulation and long-run growth. They show how rigorous, optimization-based technical tools can be applied, beyond the representative-agent framework of analysis, to account for realistic market imperfections and for political-economic interactions.


The treatment is thorough, yet accessible to students and nonspecialist economists, and it offers specialist readers a wide-ranging and innovative treatment of an increasingly important research field. The book follows a single analytical thread through a series of different growth models, allowing readers to appreciate their structure and crucial assumptions. This is particularly useful at a time when the literature on income distribution and growth has developed quickly and in several different directions, becoming difficult to overview.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691121710
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	12/25/2005
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	456
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Giuseppe Bertola is Professor of Economics at the University of Turin. Reto Foellmi is Assistant Professor of Economics at the University of Zurich. Josef Zweimüller is Professor of Economics at the University of Zurich.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix




Part One Aggregate Growth and Individual Savings 1





Chapter One: Production and Distribution ofIncome in a Market Economy 3

1.1 Accounting 4

1.2 The Neoclassical Theory of Distribution 8

Chapter Two: Exogenous Savings Propensities 14

2.1 A Linear Consumption Function 16

2.2 References and Further Issues 25

Chapter Three: Optimal Savings 28

3.1 The Optimal Consumption Path 29

3.2 The Dynamics of Accumulation and Distribution 36

3.3 Welfare Distribution in Complete Markets 41

3.4 References and Further Issues 46

3.5 Appendix:HARA Preferences 47

3.6 Review Exercises 48

Chapter Four: Factor Income Distribution 51

4.1 Factor Shares and Savings in Early Growth Models 53

4.2 Factor Shares in the Neoclassical Growth Model 57

4.3 Optimal Savings and Sustained Growth 63

4.4 Policy and Political Economy 70

4.5 References and Further Issues 77

4.6 Appendix:Factor Shares in a Two-Sector Growth Model 81

Chapter Five: Savings and Distribution with Finite Horizons 88

5.1 Distribution and Growth in the Two-Period OLG Model 90

5.2 Inequality in a Perpetual Youth Model 104

5.3 One-Period Lifetimes and Bequests 115

5.4 References and Further Issues 122

5.5 Appendix:Consumption in the Perpetual Youth Model 124

Chapter Six: Factor Shares and Taxation in the OLG Model 127

6.1 Factor Shares in the Two-Period Model 128

6.2 Factor Shares and Growth in the Perpetual Youth Model 138

6.3 References and Further Issues 143





Part Two: Financial Market Imperfections 145





Chapter Seven: Investment Opportunities and the Allocation ofSavings 147

7.1 Decreasing Returns to Individual Investment 148

7.2 Increasing Returns and Indivisibilities 158

7.3 Endogenous Factor Prices and "Trickle-Down "Growth 165

7.4 References and Further Issues 172

7.5 Review Exercises 177

Chapter Eight: Risk and Financial Markets 180

8.1 Optimization under Uncertainty 181

8.2 Rate-of-Return Risk 189

8.3 Portfolio Choice and Risk Pooling 195

8.4 References and Further Issues 200

8.5 Review Exercise 202

Chapter Nine: Uninsurable Income Shocks 204

9.1 A Two-Period Characterization 205

9.2 General Equilibrium:The CARA Case 210

9.3 General Equilibrium:The CRRA Case 214

9.4 Application:Uninsurable Risk in the Labor Markets 226

9.5 References and Further Issues 235

P rt Three Many Goods 239

Chapter Ten: Distribution and Market Power 241

10.1 Growth through Expanding Product Variety 243

10.2 Variable Elasticities of Substitution 252

10.3 Factor Shares,Taxation,and Political Economy 262

10.4 References and Further Issues 264

Chapter Eleven: Indivisible Goods and the Composition of Demand 266

11.1 Income Distribution and Product Diversity 268

11.2 The Introduction of New Products 275

11.3 Inequality and Vertical Product Differentiation 285

11.4 References and Further Issues 298

Chapter Twelve: Hierarchic Preferences 302

12.1 A Basic Framework 303

12.2 Growth,Distribution,and Structural Change 313

12.3 References and Further Issues 319

Chapter Thirteen: Dynamic Interactions of Demand and Supply 321

13.1 Learning by Doing and Trickle-Down 322

13.2 Demand Composition and Factor Rewards 328

13.3 References and Further Issues 337





Solutions to Exercises 339

References 399

Index 419

What People are Saying About This

Frank Cowell

A well balanced, clearly argued, up-to-date, and informative account of the subject. The arguments that spin off from this book will interest not only macroeconomists but also others in the field.
— Frank Cowell, Professor of Economics and Director of Distributional Analysis Research Programme, London School of Economics; author of "The Economics of Poverty and Inequality"

Alex Michaelides

Income distribution questions are becoming increasingly important in modern macroeconomic theory, and they will probably become even more so as computational techniques are utilized to move macroeconomics beyond the representative agent paradigm. This book does a good job in summarizing the current state of the literature in an interesting and hands-on way.
— Alex Michaelides, London School of Economics

From the Publisher

"The interaction between the dynamics of economic growth and the evolution of economic inequality is an important and challenging problem. Recent advances in macroeconomics of heterogeneous agents have finally made it possible to investigate this question in a systematic manner. This timely book offers an excellent first broad overview in this area. The ideas in the book are so intuitive that they can be taught to advanced undergraduates. The exposition is so clear, simple and yet rigorous that the book is useful in a first-year graduate macro sequence. Its comprehensive coverage makes it an indispensable source of reference for the researcher in the field. A great achievement! I wish I had written this book."—Kiminori Matsuyama, Northwestern University

"Income distribution questions are becoming increasingly important in modern macroeconomic theory, and they will probably become even more so as computational techniques are utilized to move macroeconomics beyond the representative agent paradigm. This book does a good job in summarizing the current state of the literature in an interesting and hands-on way."—Alex Michaelides, London School of Economics

"A well balanced, clearly argued, up-to-date, and informative account of the subject. The arguments that spin off from this book will interest not only macroeconomists but also others in the field."—Frank Cowell, Professor of Economics and Director of Distributional Analysis Research Programme, London School of Economics; author of The Economics of Poverty and Inequality

Kiminori Matsuyama

The interaction between the dynamics of economic growth and the evolution of economic inequality is an important and challenging problem. Recent advances in macroeconomics of heterogeneous agents have finally made it possible to investigate this question in a systematic manner. This timely book offers an excellent first broad overview in this area. The ideas in the book are so intuitive that they can be taught to advanced undergraduates. The exposition is so clear, simple and yet rigorous that the book is useful in a first-year graduate macro sequence. Its comprehensive coverage makes it an indispensable source of reference for the researcher in the field. A great achievement! I wish I had written this book.
— Kiminori Matsuyama, Northwestern University

Editorial Reviews

"The interaction between the dynamics of economic growth and the evolution of economic inequality is an important and challenging problem. Recent advances in macroeconomics of heterogeneous agents have finally made it possible to investigate this question in a systematic manner. This timely book offers an excellent first broad overview in this area. The ideas in the book are so intuitive that they can be taught to advanced undergraduates. The exposition is so clear, simple and yet rigorous that the book is useful in a first-year graduate macro sequence. Its comprehensive coverage makes it an indispensable source of reference for the researcher in the field. A great achievement! I wish I had written this book."—Kiminori Matsuyama, Northwestern University


"Income distribution questions are becoming increasingly important in modern macroeconomic theory, and they will probably become even more so as computational techniques are utilized to move macroeconomics beyond the representative agent paradigm. This book does a good job in summarizing the current state of the literature in an interesting and hands-on way."—Alex Michaelides, London School of Economics


"A well balanced, clearly argued, up-to-date, and informative account of the subject. The arguments that spin off from this book will interest not only macroeconomists but also others in the field."—Frank Cowell, Professor of Economics and Director of Distributional Analysis Research Programme, London School of Economics; author of The Economics of Poverty and Inequality

From the Publisher