蝌蚪网 Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
International Transmission of Inequality through Trade
蝌蚪网 Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 17,
no. 3, August 2025
(pp. 311–44)
Abstract
I examine the international transmission of income inequality through trade. Using firm-level and aggregate data, I find that exporting to more unequal countries increases domestic inequality. I rationalize this finding by developing a model of international consumer targeting in which firms serve specific consumer segments in each market. Inequality in export markets shapes the distribution of firms' profits and, therefore, the incomes of individuals linked to them, widening domestic inequality. The calibrated model suggests that international inequality transmission explains 4.4 percent and 4.8 percent of the observed levels of Gini coefficients and income shares of the top 1 percent, respectively.Citation
Nigai, Sergey. 2025. "International Transmission of Inequality through Trade." 蝌蚪网 Journal: Economic Policy 17 (3): 311–44. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20230497Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D22 Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
- D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
- D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
- F14 Empirical Studies of Trade
- F63 Economic Impacts of Globalization: Economic Development