University of Maryland

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Syllabus

Powerpoint Part 1 
Powerpoint Part 2
Powerpoint Part 3
Powerpoint Part 4
Powerpoint Part 5
Powerpoint Part 6

Lectures 1-2
Lectures 3-10
Lectures 10-12

Student Presentations

Objective:

The objective of the course is to give an overview of global inequality (inequality between citizens of the world) and to draw ethical and political implications from these findings.

The course is divided into three parts.  The first part (lectures 1 and 2) looks at the definition of inequality, its measurement, and the sources of data where we get information on inequality.  The second part (lectures 3 to 7) is the core part of the course.  It defines the three concepts of (international) inequality and reviews how they have evolved over the last fifty years.  It addresses the reasons for divergence in mean incomes between countries and reviews evidence on global (inter-personal) inequality.  The third part (lectures 8-12) reviews the political and ethical implications of the empirical findings.  Can we say that inequalities are too high?  Is there causality between global inequality and globalization?  Are rich countries (or people) obligated to help poor countries (and people)?

 

Lectures 1-2:  What is economic (income/consumption) inequality and
how do we measure it?

• Survey Nonresponse and the Distribution of Income, A. Korinek, J. Mistiaen and M. Ravallion. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series No. 3543, March 2005.
• "Inequality Decomposition Analysis and the Gini Coefficient Revisited, P.Lambert and J. R. Aronson". The Economic Journal, Vol. 103, No. 420, pp. 1221-1227. September 1993.
• Poverty and the economic transition : how do changes in economies of scale affect poverty rates for different households?, P. Lanjouw, B. Milanovic and S. Paternostro. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series No. 2009, November 1998.
• A Simple Way to Calculate the Gini Coefficient, and some Implications, B. Milanovic. Economics Letters 56, pp 45-49.  1997.
• Competing concepts of inequality in the globalization debate, M. Ravallion.  World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series No. 3243, March 2004.
• "Ranking Income Distribution", A. Shorrocks. Economica, New Series, Vol. 50, No. 197, pp. 3-17. February 1983.
• The Growth Elasticity of Poverty Reduction: Explaining Heterogeneity Acrosss Countries and Time Periods, F. Bourguignon. Delta Working Paper No. 2002-03, February 2002.
• Convergence Forward and Backward?  Q. Wodon and S. Yitzhaki. World Bank and Hebrew University, March 2005.

Lectures 3-10:  International and Global Inequality

• What do we know about global income inequality?,  S. Anand and P. Seal. Department of Economics, University of Oxford and St. Catherine's College: Oxford.
• Global World Inequality: Absolute, Relative or Intermediate?, A. Atkinson and A. Brandolini.  Cork, Ireland, August 2004.
• "Inequality Among World Citizens: 1820-1992", F. Bourguignon and C. Morrisson.   The American Economic Review, September 2002.
• Spatial Price Differences in China: Estimates and Implications, L. Brandt and C. Holz. University of Chicago. 2006.
• "The Rise or Fall of World Inequality: A Spurious Controversy?", B. Capéau and A. Decoster.  World Institute for Development Economics Research Discussion Paper No. 2004/02, United Nations University. January 2004.
• "Poverty and Inequality in India: A Re-Examination", A. Deaton and J. Dreze. Economic and Political Weekly, September 2002.
• Contradictory Trends in Global Income Inequality: A Tale of Two Biases, S. Dowrick and M. Akmal.  School of Economics, Australian National University. March 2001.
• Globalisation and Convergence, S. Dowrick and J. B. DeLong. October 2001
• Globalization and Its Challenges, S. Fischer. January 2003.
• "What Have We Learnt from the Convergence Debate?",  N. Islam. Journal of Economic Surveys, Vol. 17, No. 3, 2003.
• Economic Integration and Income Convergence: Not Such a Strong Link?, B. Milanovic. The Review of Economics and Statistics, Vol. 88, No. 4, pp. 659-670. November 2006.
• Globalization and Goals: Does Soccer Show the Way?, B. Milanovic.  Review of International Political Economy 12:5, pp. 829-850, December 2005.
• Global Income Inequality: A Review, B. Milanovic, World Economics, Vol. 7, No. 1, January-March 2006.
• The Ricardian Vice: Why Sala-i-Martin Calculations of World Income Inequality Are Wrong, B. Milanovic. Development Research Group, World Bank, Washington, D.C.
• True World Income Distribution, 1988 and 1993: First Calculation Based on Household Surveys Alone, B. Milanovic. The Economic Journal, Vol 112, pp. 51-92, November 2000.
• The Disturbing "Rise" of Global Income Inequality, X. Sala-i-Martin. NBER Working Paper Series No. 8904, National Bureau of Economic Research, April 2002.
• "World Inequality and Globalization", B. Sutcliffe.Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Vol. 20, No. 1, Oxford University Press. 2004.
• "World Income Distribution: Which Way?", P. Svedberg. The Journal of Development Studies, Vol. 40, No. 5, pp. 1-32, June 2004.
• The Size Distribution of Income Among World Citizens, 1820-1990, F. Bourguignon and C. Morrisson, American Economic Review, Sept 2002, pp. 727-744.
• China component in international income equality: based on method of controlling economic factors.  J. Zhiyong.
• An Even Higher Global Inequality than Previously Thought.  B. Milanovic. World Bank, December 2007.

Lectures 11-13:  Global Distributive Justice

• "Rawls's Law of Peoples", C. Beitz. Ethics, Vol. 110, No. 4, pp. 669-696, July 2000.
• Global redistribution of income, F. Bourguignon, V. Levin and D. Rosenblatt. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper Series No. 3961, World Bank, Washington, D.C. July 2006.
• People Flows in Globalization, R. Freeman. NBER Working Paper Series No. 12315, National Bureau of Economic Research, June 2006.
• Ethical Case and Economic Feasibility of Global Transfers, B. Milanovic. Development Research Group, World Bank, October 2006.
• "The Problem of Global Justice", T. Nagel. Philosophy & Public Affairs, Vol. 33, No. 2, 2005.
• Why Rawls is Not a Cosmopolitan Egalitarian, L. Wenar. "in Rawls's Law of Peoples: A Realistic Utopia?, R. Martin and D. Reidy (eds.) 2006.

Student Presentations:

• Inequality, Growth and Poverty in the Era of Liberalization and Globalization. D. Prud'homme.
• Inequality and Poverty Dynamics Across the Russian Regions in 1992-2000.  N. Miteva.
• The Poverty-Growth-Inequality Triangle.  C. Fernandez.
• Regional Inequality in India: A Fresh Look.  N. Singh, L. Bhandari, A. Chen, A. Khare.
• World Inequality and Globalization.  M. Spearman.
• An Egalitarian Law of Peoples.  L. Flores