1. Comparisons
By Scott Tuttle
SOC 760

2. A self-ordained professor’s tongue Too serious to fool Spouted out that liberty Is just equality in school “Equality,” I spoke the word As if a wedding vow Ah, but I was so much older then I’m younger than that now
-Bob Dylan, My Back Pages
From the 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan

3. Key Trends Kuznets curve (Alderson & Nielson, 2002)
as a nation starts to develop there is an initial increase in income inequality, a peak and plateau, and finally a decline in inequality
Formulated in the 1950s.
Inequality in the US appeared to have peaked around 1890 then started dropping around
The great U-turn
Income inequality appeared to rise again by the early 1970s
10/16 of the OECD countries also saw a similar pattern (Alderson & Nielson, 2002)

4. Key Trends (cont)
Inequalities in wages and salaries as a component of market income (Brandolini & Smeeding, 2009)
highest for Poland and Israel and lowest for Taiwan and the Netherlands.
Surprisingly low for the United States too
Market income “the total revenue from labor and investments and constitutes the primary source of household income” (p. 78).
Inequalities in market income have increased for many of the world’s most industrialized countries since 1970:
Factoring in disposable income accounts for the assumed higher levesl of inequality in the US
Disposable income = market income plus “interhousehold cash transfers and public transfers” minus “taxes and employees’ social insurance contributions”

6. Key Trends (cont)
Shares of wealth belonging to the top 1% are increasing in the United States, UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada
The trend is less clear in continental Europe and Japan (Alvaredo et al. 2013)

7. Alavaredo et al., 2013

8. Alavaredo et al., 2013

9. Question 1
Is the great U-turn an inevitable part of a nation’s development? Can a nation avoid it and still develop?

10. Income Inequality as a Measure of Inequality
America has a much higher gross national income (GNI), but Europe has a similar standard of living in which they enjoy the same technologies and luxuries (DiPrete, 2005).
Argues Americans just work more hours and enjoy fewer benefits
Just looking at “real income,” it seems the poor are comparable to Europe and the rich are generally richer (Brandolini & Smeeding, 2009):

11. Brandolini & Smeeding, 2009

12. Gender and Immigration Concerns
Alderson and Nielson (2002) test two (of many other) hypotheses:
An increase in women entering the workforce will lead to greater income inequality.
Because women’s jobs pay less, they inflate the bottom of the distribution
An increase in immigration will lead to greater income inequality
Same reason plus empirical research that inequality tends to decrease in high sending countries and increase in high receiving countries during times of escalated immigration
They find support for the first hypothesis, the positive effect of immigration is only found when controlling for other variables said to impact the great U-turn.

13. Question 2
Does income inequality really capture the essence of equality itself?
On one hand, it might indicate that there’s some kind of greater underlying inequality in a society.
On the other hand, during periods of time in which society initially moves toward equality, it might reflect badly on income inequality.

14. Redistribution
Brandolini and Sweeding (2009) find lower measures for inequality in “real income” in places like Denmark and the Netherlands.
Places where Alvaredo et al (2013) find a higher share of the wealth belonging to the top 1% tend to score higher on that inequality chart.
Alderson and Nelson (2002) find evidence that “decommodification” has a negative relationship with income inequality
employment/state benefits such as maternity leave, sick time, unemployment benefits
DiPrete observes institutional changes can result from changes in market forces (not always the other way around).
Deunionization
Decline in wages
Change in technological demand (market force change)

15. Question 3
Is redistribution the magic bullet? Should resources be redistributed such that all are perfectly equal or is some degree of inequality desirable (referring to the functionalist argument)?

16. Question 4
Why is the United States such an outlier even among wealthier countries? What is distinct about it?