Capital openness and income inequality: smooth sailing or troubled waters?
Date
2017-04
DOI
Authors
Lagarda, Guillermo
Linares, Jennifer
Gallagher, Kevin P.
Version
OA Version
Citation
Abstract
The 2008 Financial Crisis and subsequent financial turbulence has triggered economists and policymakers to revisit the extent to which capital account liberalization is optimal for all countries at all levels of development. While that literature has largely concluded that capital account liberalization may have detrimental effects on growth and accentuate financial instability in emerging markets,
relatively little literature has examined the impacts of capital account liberalization on inequality—a
subject that has also been under intense study over the past decade as well. In this paper, we attempt
to build upon and bridge these two literatures to examine the extent to which capital account
liberalization is associated with income inequality in emerging market and developing countries.
We confirm earlier studies that show there is such a relationship between increased capital account
openness and increases in inequality, and that capital account regulations are associated with less
inequality—at least for emerging market economies. We expand on these findings to learn that
there are differential impacts of capital account liberalization on inequality during booms and busts,
being financial development a key factor. During normal times we find that there are positive impacts
on income inequality, whereas during busts capital account liberalization appears to exacerbate
inequality, calling for active policies.
Description
This repository item contains a working paper from the Boston University Global Economic Governance Initiative. The Global Economic Governance Initiative (GEGI) is a research program of the Center for Finance, Law & Policy, the Frederick S. Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer-Range Future, and the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies. It was founded in 2008 to advance policy-relevant knowledge about governance for financial stability, human development, and the environment.
License
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