Demand Composition and Income Distribution

This paper highlights how changes in the composition of demand affect income dispersion in the short run. We first document how the share of aggregate spending dedicated to labour-intensive goods and services shrinks (expands) during downturns (booms), and argue that this contributes to the observed...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Pothier, David
Other Authors: Puy, Damien
Format: eBook
Language:English
Published: Washington, D.C. International Monetary Fund 2014
Series:IMF Working Papers
Subjects:
Online Access:
Collection: International Monetary Fund - Collection details see MPG.ReNa
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245 0 0 |a Demand Composition and Income Distribution  |c David Pothier, Damien Puy 
260 |a Washington, D.C.  |b International Monetary Fund  |c 2014 
300 |a 50 pages 
651 4 |a United States 
653 |a Aggregate Human Capital 
653 |a Income distribution 
653 |a Income 
653 |a Employment 
653 |a Aggregate Labor Productivity 
653 |a Factor Income Distribution 
653 |a Labour 
653 |a Labor economics 
653 |a Income inequality 
653 |a Labor Economics: General 
653 |a Wages 
653 |a Intergenerational Income Distribution 
653 |a Labor 
653 |a Wage Differentials 
653 |a Income economics 
653 |a Aggregate Factor Income Distribution 
653 |a Macroeconomics 
653 |a Economic theory 
653 |a Unemployment 
653 |a Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions 
653 |a National accounts 
653 |a Wage Level and Structure 
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520 |a This paper highlights how changes in the composition of demand affect income dispersion in the short run. We first document how the share of aggregate spending dedicated to labour-intensive goods and services shrinks (expands) during downturns (booms), and argue that this contributes to the observed pro-cyclicality of employment and output in labour-intensive industries. Using a two-sector general equilibrium model, we then assess how this demand composition channel influences the cyclical properties of the income distribution. Consistent with empirical evidence, we find income inequality to be countercyclical due to changes in the level of employment and (to a lesser extent) relative factor prices. The model also shows that wealth redistribution policies can potentially involve a trade-off between equality and output, depending on how they affect the composition of aggregate demand