Education and Income Inequality Reconsidered: A Cross-Country Analysis of Data from 1960-2000

Kim, Eunju

doi:10.52372/kjps28103

Korean J. Policy Stud. 2013; 28(1):43-65

pISSN: 1225-5017, eISSN: 2765-2807

DOI: https://doi.org/10.52372/kjps28103

Article

Education and Income Inequality Reconsidered: A Cross-Country Analysis of Data from 1960-2000

Eunju Kim ¹

Author Information & Copyright ▼

¹Eunju Kim is a PhD candidate in the Graduate School of Public Administration and a researcher in the Asian Development Institute, both at Seoul National University. E-mail: joanne@snu.ac.kr. The initial idea for this study came from a class on the study of inequality taught by Professor HyunSub Kum. He offered valuable suggestions and encouragement, which are greatly appreciated. The author is also grateful for the comments received from anonymous reviewers; any remaining errors are the author’s.

© Copyright 2013 Graduate School of Public Administration, Seoul National University. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Received: Feb 08, 2013; Revised: Feb 22, 2013; Revised: Mar 25, 2013; Accepted: Mar 29, 2013

Published Online: Apr 30, 2013

Abstract

Recent comparative inequality studies have addressed not only income but also other dimensions such as education and health inequality. Education has been believed to play a critical role in the nexus of inequality and growth. This study examines whether education distribution has an effect on income inequality. It empirically analyzes the relationship between education inequality and income inequality using quinquennial panel data from 100 countries for 1960-2000. The results show that education inequality and income inequality have a nonlinear, inverted-U-shaped relationship. This relationship appeared more consistently in developing countries. These findings suggest that educational opportunities should be more equally provided for better income distribution, especially in developing countries.

Keywords: education inequality; income inequality; education Gini; comparative inequality studies; panel analysis