Type of Document	Dissertation
Author	Abdul Razak, Nor Azam
Author's Email Address	nabdul1@lsu.edu
URN	etd-10272006-144739
Title	Income Inequality and Economic Growth
Degree	Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department	Economics
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Chris Papageorgiou, Chris Committee Chair Koray, Faik Committee Member McMillin, Douglas Committee Member Chanda, Areendam Committee Member Kim, Wonik Dean's Representative
Keywords	galor-zeira model kremer-chen model economic growth convergence hypothesis conditional convergence human capital investment club convergence income inequality gini
Date of Defense	2006-09-29
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract A central issue in the growth literature is whether initial conditions matter for income disparity among nations. If they don't, then countries will converge to a single regime once the structural features of the economies are controlled for. If they do, then countries will converge to multiple regimes even if the structural features are controlled for. This dissertation is designed to investigate whether the world is characterized by a single or multiple regimes. The first paper investigates whether the predictions of a particular multiple-regime model due to Galor and Zeira (1993) are borne out by the data. The baseline analysis is carried out with a sample of 46 countries (for which data are available) during the period 1970-2000. The analysis produces results that are consistent with the model. These results are broadly robust to different model specifications, sample periods, and permutations of alternative control variables. We take these results as evidence in support of the multiple-regime models. The second paper examines whether the conclusions of another multiple-regime model due to Kremer and Chen (2002) are borne out by the data. The baseline analysis is also carried out with a sample of 46 countries during the period 1970-2000. The analysis produces results that are consistent with the model. These results are broadly robust across different human capital differential variables, different sample sizes, and additional control variables. We take these results as evidence in support of the multiple-regime models. The third paper revisits the convergence hypothesis test using a new stochastic dominance method. The baseline analysis is carried out with a sample of 100 countries during the period 1960-2000. Together with the robustness check, the analysis yields results that are consistent with the club convergence hypothesis. We take these results as evidence in support of the multiple-regime models.
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