Christian Morrisson

Inequality Among World Citizens: 1820-1992

This paper investigates the distribution of well being among world citizens during the last two centuries. The estimates show that inequality of world distribution of income worsened from the beginning of the 19th century to World War II and after that seems to have stabilized or to have grown much more slowly. In the early 19th century most inequality was due to differences within countries; later, it was due to differences between countries. Inequality in longevity, also increased during the 19th century, but then was reversed in the second half the 20th century, perhaps mitigating the failure of income inequality to improve in the last decades.

Inequality and development: the role of dualism

Abstract This paper suggests major factors in country differences in income distribution largely overlooked in the literature on inequality and development. They concern the extent of economic dualism, as proxied macroeconomically by the relative labour productivity of non-agricultural sectors vs. agriculture and related variables. The result is robust with respect to both the composition of the sample, the observation period and inclusion of country fixed effects, in marked contrast to what happens when the analysis is limited to more traditional variables, like GDP per capita or average level of schooling.

Income Distribution, Development and Foreign Trade: A Cross-Sectional Analysis

Abstract This paper analyses cross-sectional evidence on income inequality in developing countries within a consistent theoretical framework where the major explanatory variables are factor endowments, their ownership structure and foreign trade distortions. The resulting explanation of cross-country differences in income distribution is considerably better than what is found in the existing literature. Endowments in mineral resources, land concentration in agricultural exports, trade protection and secondary schooling are shown to be major determinants of differences in income inequality across developing countries.

The century of education

This paper presents a historical database on educational attainment in 74 countries for the period 1870–2010, using perpetual inventory methods before 1960 and then the Cohen and Soto database. We use a measurement error framework to merge the two databases, while correcting for a systematic measurement bias in Cohen and Sotos study linked to differential mortality across educational groups. Descriptive statistics show a continuous spread of education that has accelerated in the second half of the twentieth century. We find evidence of fast convergence in years of schooling for a subsample of advanced countries during the 1870–1914 globalization period and of modest convergence since 1980. Less advanced countries have been excluded from the convergence club in both cases.

The informal sector elephant

Abstract Different analysts have used the term “informal sector” to mean different things. A data set with 2,200 small enterprises chosen using random procedures in seven countries makes it possible to test the relationships between different measures. The analysis finds only limited parallels between definitions based on size, on registration, on conformity to fiscal and other regulations, and on degrees of modernization. Wide variations appear from one country to another. The term may be appropriate for examination of individual countries, especially if the analyst defines it precisely; but its use in multicountry analysis is fraught with difficulties.

Historical perspectives on income distribution: The case of Europe

The evolution of income distribution over two centuries is an attractive topic because it allows one to test the inverse U-curve hypothesis using long series instead of cross-section data. In Section 1 the distribution trends in countries where global data are available, is considered, that is in four Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands, the German states and Germany, and in France. The inverse U-curve hypothesis is verified in four of them. Section 2 presents in a consistent framework, using the Theil indicator, all available information on inequality trends between agricultural and nonagricultural sectors and on inequality trends within each sector in European countries. Finally Section 3 throws light on the political and economic factors explaining the long-term evolution of distribution. The economic factors playing a key role are the market structures, the diffusion of education and saving, and dualism.

Measuring Gender (In)Equality: The OECD Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base

The Development Centre of the Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Developments Gender, Institutions and Development Data Base (GID‐DB) is a new cross‐country research tool with comprehensive measures of gender equality. It improves upon existing sources because it is the only data base on gender that systematically incorporates indicators of social norms, traditions and family law. The GID‐DB thereby permits analysis of hypotheses that link cultural practices to gender equality, human development and economic growth. A cross‐country comparison of the data indicates that inequalities in social institutions are particularly pronounced in countries with low female literacy rates, but correlate less strongly with Gross Domestic Product per capita. Similarly, our econometric analysis suggests a clearly negative correlation between gender inequality of the OECD Development Center and womens labor‐force participation.*The views expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the authors *The views expressed in this article are the personal opinions of the authors

Adjustment, incomes and poverty in Morocco

Abstract Although fiscal and balance-of-payments problems began in 1976, Morocco did not introduce its stabilization program until 1983. The combination of a short-term stabilization program (devaluations, reductions in public investment, and slower growth in domestic credit and government employment) and medium-term structural adjustment measures (liberalizing trade, agriculture, and financial markets) reduced internal and external deficits while maintaining economic growth and preventing an increase in poverty. Model simulations of three alternative approaches show that the macroeconomic policy adopted could have been better, but only slightly. They also show that the timing of the program was suited to the exogenous shocks Morocco faced and helped to keep the social costs of adjustment low, although additional macroeconomic measures and higher direct taxes on high-income households could have reduced them even further.

Changing Social Institutions to Improve the Status of Women in Developing Countries

. Deeply rooted social institutions – societal norms, codes of conduct, laws and tradition – cause gender discrimination. . Religion per se does not systematically define such discrimination. All dominant religions show flexibility in interpreting the role of women in society. . The Millennium Development Goals demand change in gender-discriminating social institutions, which should be added to the seven strategic priorities identi?ed by the UN Task Force on Education and Gender Equality. . Donors must redesign their strategies to focus not only on improving women’s capacities and capabilities, but also and concurrently on lowering men’s resistance against reforms that improve gender equality.

Adjustment and Equity

• Adjustment does not necessarily increase poverty • Adjusting before a crisis reduces social costs • Refusal to adjust and the suspension of imports leads to self-centred underdevelopment, which is socially much more costly • The choice of macroeconomic stabilisation measures is important: the same result can be obtained with higher or lower social costs • Some structural adjustment measures have beneficial social effects but others, like the reorganisation of public enterprises, involve high costs • Action by donor countries is indispensable to offset the increase in poverty linked to stabilisation measures and to the reduction of employment in public enterprises