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Does decentralization reduce income inequality? Only in rich states
Author(s) -
Cavusoglu Tarkan,
Dincer Oguzhan
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
southern economic journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.762
H-Index - 58
eISSN - 2325-8012
pISSN - 0038-4038
DOI - 10.1002/soej.12047
Subject(s) - decentralization , economics , cointegration , inequality , economic inequality , ordinary least squares , econometrics , causality (physics) , macroeconomics , mathematics , mathematical analysis , market economy , physics , quantum mechanics
We investigate the relationship between fiscal decentralization and income inequality using data from U.S. states over three and a half decades. Our study contributes to the literature in several ways in terms of empirical methodology and specification. First, we take into account integration and cointegration properties of the data and estimate the cointegrating relationship between fiscal decentralization and income inequality using Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares, following Pedroni (2000). Second, we investigate the direction of the causality. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we investigate if the relationship between fiscal decentralization and income inequality is conditional on income in each state. We find that fiscal decentralization does reduce income inequality, but only in rich states. We also find that causality runs from fiscal decentralization to income inequality, not the other way around.