4. Living Interdependently: public goods and externalities Flashcards

1
Q

Why is their government involvement in inequality?

A

Market cannot correct itself

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2
Q

What determines income distribution in the general equilibrium framework?

4 things

A

.

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3
Q

Optimise the constrained demand function?

A

.

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4
Q

What is the market clearing condition?

A

.

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5
Q

Is there a mechanism to equalise income when prices are determined by supply and demand?

A
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6
Q

What is the sample size when Income inequality is measured?

A
  • Measured based on samples of indivduals in the population
  • Typically household income is observed
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7
Q

Complications of using income inequality as a measure of inequality

A
  • Difficult if you live in a household with multiple people (E.g. There may be a dependent person in the household)
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8
Q

What do we do to adjust for the inaccuracy that can result when measuring income inequality as a result of people living in multi-person households?

A
  • Equivalised income (Adjusting for household composition)
  • OECD modified equivalence scale since the 1990s: A value of 1 to the household head, 0.5 to each additional adult and 0.3 to each child (Adds weights)
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9
Q

What is the OECD eqivalence sclae

A
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10
Q

2018 UK equivalised household disposable income

A
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11
Q

The UK distribution of wages

A
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12
Q

What is missing from our simple model (where income is determined by labour supply and productivity)?

A

.

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13
Q

Rewards and inequality
* What is it determined by?
* What does it differ across and why?

A
  • Determined by market equilibrium
  • Differ across time and space due to distribution of property rights, relative scarcity of different skills
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14
Q

International trade and inequality

A

Rising inequality is associated with rising prices that come around due to globalisation

  • Trade agreements = reduction in protectionism. Income can be affected by ways other than direct ways (Can affect prices in an open economy)
  • Lower prices of goods, that are import- competiting
  • Lowering of the wages of those who produce the lower priced goods
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15
Q

Thomas Piketty: Capital in the 21st century
* What does he argues causes inequality?

A

.

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16
Q

Equivalised income example

A
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17
Q

Gini coefficent

A
  • Standard measure of inequality
  • Named after Itlian Statitician Corrado Gini
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18
Q

Lorenz curve

A

Graphical representation of the distribution of income within a population
Named after American economist Max Otto Lorenz

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19
Q

Equality line
The basics of the Lorenz curve

A
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20
Q

What is the approximate Gini coefficent equation

A
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21
Q

Higher and Lower inequality

A
22
Q

Share of income example

A
23
Q

Lorenz curve example
Draw the graph

A

.

24
Q

Gini coefficent across countries

A
25
Q

What are the big debates about inequality

A
26
Q

What are the two key views of the market system?

A
27
Q

The work of Robery Nozick

A
28
Q

Proxy for wellbeing, so is income the same as welfare?

A
29
Q

Why is income a good proxy for utility?

A

Income is cardinal and comparable (common metric) across individuals

30
Q

What happens when all income is spent?

A

Consumer is on the budget line

31
Q

Utility and income
Cobb-Douglas

A
32
Q
A
33
Q
A
34
Q

Diminishing marginal utility
Slide 42 and 43

A
35
Q

Measuring utility: Neuroscientific methods

A
36
Q

Measuring utility: Life satisfaction surveys

A
37
Q

What is Inequality aversion?
Piguo- Dalton Theory of transfers

A

.

38
Q

Class of social welfare functions
* Utilitarianism
* Preference for equality (Inequality aversion)
* Ralwsian

A
39
Q

Utilitarianism social welfare function

A
40
Q

Inequality aversion social welfare function
* Graph
* Is the sign positive or negative?

A

.

41
Q

Rawlsian (maximin) social welfare function

A
42
Q

Rationale for inequality aversion:

A
43
Q

What is prioritarianism?

A

Give more social weight to individuals who have less

44
Q

Why might inequality be a good thing?

A
45
Q

Gini coefficient equation (not approximation )

A
46
Q

Gini coefficent example

A
47
Q

Deprivation vs Inequality?
• Should we focus on the well-being of those with the lowest income?

A
48
Q

Relationship between life satisfaction and income

A
49
Q

(Starmans et al 2017)
How is a preference for fairness distinct from a preference for equality?

A
  • Actually prefer unequal societies.
  • Equal distribution is seen as a moral good
  • Norton and Ariely: Individuals are nto worried largely about inequality, but prefer it
  • When the equal outcome is the fair one, then then equality is desired. But if their is a disparity in productivity, then inequality should be the fair option as the more productivie person should be rewarded.
  • Meritocracy
  • Fairness solves the issue of free-riders, cheaters and bad actors.
50
Q

(Starmans et al 2017)
Should reducing inequality be a conscious objective of government?

A
  • Inequality leads to violence, teenage pregnancy, interpersonal distrust and higher divorce
  • Inequality reduces hapiness amonng bottom earners
  • Workers on the low end have low effort
51
Q

(Starmans et al 2017)
Can there be too much equality?

A
  • When it coincides with fairness, then equality should be desired. But if it is not fair, then equality is not desired
  • Individuals who are too cooperative run the risk of being taken advanatage of
  • This would penalise high productivity individuals
  • Inequality promotes people to work harder (meritocrativ mobility)
52
Q

(Kanbur et al, 2018)
What is ‘inequality of opportunity’? How does link to ‘circumstances’ and ‘effort’ as determinants of outcomes?

A
  • Inequality of oppurtunity: Fraction of the variation of income which is attributed to circumstance
  • Roemer: Cirumstance (Factors outside of your control like gender) and effot (Characteristics that individuals can control like education) determine income