The inequality trap. A comparative analysis of social spending between 1880 and 1930
It is often assumed that the fight against inequality played an important role in the rise of the welfare state. However, using social transfers as an indicator of redistribution and three alternative proxies for inequality¿the top income shares, the ratio of the GDP per capita to the unskilled wage...
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| Tipo de recurso: | artículo |
| Estado: | Versión aceptada para publicación |
| Fecha de publicación: | 2015 |
| País: | España |
| Institución: | Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya) |
| Repositorio: | Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya |
| OAI Identifier: | oai:recercat.cat:2445/107808 |
| Acceso en línea: | https://hdl.handle.net/2445/107808 |
| Access Level: | acceso abierto |
| Palabra clave: | Igualtat Estat del benestar Producte interior brut Història econòmica Equality Welfare state Gross domestic product Economic history |
| Sumario: | It is often assumed that the fight against inequality played an important role in the rise of the welfare state. However, using social transfers as an indicator of redistribution and three alternative proxies for inequality¿the top income shares, the ratio of the GDP per capita to the unskilled wage, and the share of non-family farms¿this article shows that inequality did not favour the development of social policy between 1880 and 1930. On the contrary, social policy developed more easily in countries that were previously more egalitarian, suggesting that unequal societies were in a sort of inequality trap, where inequality itself was an obstacle to redistribution. |
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