Property Rights and Income Inequality

Van, Germinal (2021): Property Rights and Income Inequality.

Abstract

Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact that property rights exert on income inequality. It has been widely argued that income inequality is one of the catalysts of poverty and economic disparities between the haves and the have-nots. Moreover, advocates in favor of economic planning and government intervention have contended that one of the methods to reduce income inequality is for the state to play a redistributive role such as imposing a wealth tax, a progressive income tax, or even imposing a minimum wage. Although these measures portray genuine intentions, the overwhelming empirical evidence shows that these well-intended policies generated adversarial results. This paper argues that income inequality is a normal, natural, and mandatory characteristic for the economic development of civil society. This paper intends to demonstrate that income inequality is not inherently a predicament for the economic evolution of the citizenry but a necessary condition to ensure their growth. To demonstrate the validity of arguments, we intended to use statistical methods as illustrative and communicative tools of analysis rather than predictive tools.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Economic Theory, Econometrics, Property Rights, Economic Growth, Income Inequality
• Subjects: C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C1 - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General > C10 - General; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C2 - Single Equation Models ; Single Variables > C21 - Cross-Sectional Models ; Spatial Models ; Treatment Effect Models ; Quantile Regressions; C - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods > C3 - Multiple or Simultaneous Equation Models ; Multiple Variables > C31 - Cross-Sectional Models ; Spatial Models ; Treatment Effect Models ; Quantile Regressions ; Social Interaction Models; E - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics > E1 - General Aggregative Models > E13 - Neoclassical; O - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth > O4 - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity > O47 - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth ; Aggregate Productivity ; Cross-Country Output Convergence; P - Economic Systems > P1 - Capitalist Systems > P14 - Property Rights

References

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Proudhon, Pierre-Joseph. “Chapter III: Prescription Gives No Title to Property.” What is Property? An Inquiry Into the Principle of Right and of Government. (1876) Translated and Published by Benj. R. Tucker, Princeton, Massachusetts.

Persky, Joseph. “Retrospectives: Lange and von Mises, Large-Scale Enterprises, and the Economic Case for Socialism.” Journal of Economic Perspectives. (1991). Vol. 5, Number 4. pp. 229-236.

Ibid. p. 230

Ibid. p. 230

Ibid. p. 230

Ibid. p. 231

Ibid. p. 231

Ibid. p. 231

Piketty, Thomas. “Rethinking the Progressive Income Tax” Capital in the Twenty-First Century. (2014). pp. 630-663. The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN: 978-0-674-97985-7 “A Short History of Enclosure in Britain.” The Land Magazine. (2009). p. 19

Ibid. p. 19

Ibid. p. 19

Ibid. p. 19

Ibid. p. 20

Ibid. p. 24

Smith, Adam. “Book V: Chapter III: Of Public Debts.” The Wealth of Nations. (1776). Published by Modern Library in 1994. p. 985. ISBN: 978-0679424734

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Foundation of Western Culture. Ibid.

Foundation of Western Culture. Ibid.

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Clark, Ibid.

Clark, Ibid.

Clark, Ibid.

Clark, Ibid.

Clark, Ibid.

O’Driscoll Jr., Gerald P., Hoskins, Lee. “Property Rights: The Key to Economic Development” Policy Analysis. (2003). Working Paper No. 482. p. 1. Cato Institute.

Ibid. p. 1

Ibid. p. 1

Ibid. p. 1

Ibid. p. 2

Ibid. p. 2

Ibid. p. 2