Further evidence on inflation targeting and income distribution

C-Tier
Journal: Southern Economic Journal
Year: 2025
Volume: 91
Issue: 4
Pages: 1474-1493

Authors (2)

John Thornton (University of East Anglia) Chrysovalantis Vasilakis (not in RePEc)

Score contribution per author:

0.503 = (α=2.01 / 2 authors) × 0.5x C-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of inflation targeting (IT) on income distribution in a panel of 70 countries. Employing panel regressions and a variety of propensity score matching methods, we find strong evidence that incomes became more unequal in IT‐adopting countries relative to countries that did not adopt IT. Panel regressions suggest that Gini coefficients increased by 0.25%–0.57% and the share of income of the top 1% and 10% of households increased by 0.7% in IT adopter countries. Using propensity score matching methods, IT has been associated with a relative rise in Gini coefficients of about 1–2 percentage points, and a relative increase in the share of national income going to the top 1% and 10% of households by about 11–13 percentage points and 13–17 percentage points, respectively. The results are robust to changes in country sample and alternative estimation methodologies.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:wly:soecon:v:91:y:2025:i:4:p:1474-1493
Journal Field
General
Author Count
2
Added to Database
2026-01-29