Unfair inequality and growth*
研究区分了公平与不公平的不平等，发现不公平的不平等会阻碍经济增长，而公平的不平等可能促进增长，且贫困率越高，不平等对增长的影响越小。
Abstract Fighting against economic inequality is one fundamental social goal in the agendas of most governments. However, recent studies highlight that people actually prefer unequal societies, as they accept inequality generated by an individual's effort and wish to reduce only unfair inequality (generated by factors beyond an individual's control). This distinction might help to explain the fundamental unsolved question about whether inequality is good or bad for growth: unfair inequality (UI) could be growth‐deterring, while fair inequality (FI) might be growth‐enhancing. We derive a reduced‐form growth equation from a stylized overlapping‐generations model with human capital that includes FI, UI, and poverty. Then, using an instrumental variable approach, we show for alternative samples and inequality measures at the worldwide level that the estimated coefficient associated with UI is always negative, while the coefficient of total inequality increases when UI is included in the regression. Moreover, we find that poverty mediates this relationship because the higher the poverty rate, the smaller the impact of either type of inequality on growth.