Welfare State, Inequality, and Globalization: Role of International-Capital-Flow Direction

52 Pages Posted: 30 Apr 2019

See all articles by Assaf Razin

Assaf Razin

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

Efraim Sadka

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: April 2019

Abstract

Globalization, in the form of financial flows, which is always advantageous on an aggregative level, typically creates winners and losers, if left exclusively to market forces. The effects of financial globalization on income inequality depends on whether the country exports its capital to the rest of the world or imports capital from abroad. In the capital-exporting case, financial globalization drives up return to savings and drives down wages. In the capital-importing case, financial globalization tends to raise wages but lower return on savings. Therefore, the distributive policies of the welfare state in its role of spreading the gains from financial globalization to various income groups varies, depending on whether the country exports, or imports capital.

The paper demonstrates that typical welfare-state redistribution policies, governed by a majority of the population, spreads the globalization's gains from trade to all income groups, even those who are low skilled and have small capital endowments. Therefore, financial globalization of a welfare- state economy generates a Pareto improvement. At the same time, globalization, through enhanced capital mobility and high-skill emigration diminishes the generosity of the welfare state.

Keywords: Capital Export, capital import, Gains from trade, generosity of welfare state

Suggested Citation

Razin, Assaf and Sadka, Efraim, Welfare State, Inequality, and Globalization: Role of International-Capital-Flow Direction (April 2019). CEPR Discussion Paper No. DP13684, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3376615

Assaf Razin (Contact Author)

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics ( email )

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Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, 69978
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National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) ( email )

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CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

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Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR)

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Efraim Sadka

Tel Aviv University - Eitan Berglas School of Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 39040
Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, 69978
Israel
+972 3 640 9712 (Phone)
+972 3 642 8074 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

CESifo (Center for Economic Studies and Ifo Institute)

Poschinger Str. 5
Munich, DE-81679
Germany

HOME PAGE: http://www.CESifo.de

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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