Entropy, directionality theory and the evolution of income inequality

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• dc.contributor.author Germano, Fabrizio
• dc.date.accessioned 2023-07-18T06:35:25Z
• dc.date.available 2023-07-18T06:35:25Z
• dc.date.issued 2022
• dc.description.abstract A macro-evolutionary theory of income inequality is proposed that is based on a society’s dynamic income generating process. Two types of processes are distinguished, namely dispersing and concentrating ones. A basic result shows that dispersing processes provide a selective advantage for more balanced and mutualistic interaction; whereas concentrating ones favor weaker, less balanced and less mutualistic interaction. We also show that societies with more balanced and mutualistic interaction induce more income equality and a non-stratified society, while less balanced and less mutualistic ones induce more inequality and a possibly stratified society. Also, more equal societies are more resilient in the sense of being quicker to recover from shocks and return to steady state than less equal ones. Stylized examples of pre-modern and modern societies are briefly discussed.
• dc.description.sponsorship Finally, I thank AMSE-IMéRA at Aix-Marseille Université and the European University Institute in Florence for generous hospitality, and acknowledge financial support from Grants PID2020-115044GB-I00//AEI/10.13039/501100011033 and ECO2017-89240-P (AEI/FEDER, UE), and from the Spanish Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) through the Severo Ochoa Programme for Centres of Excellence in R&D (Barcelona School of Economics CEX2019-000915-S). All errors are my own.
• dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
• dc.identifier.citation Germano F. Entropy, directionality theory and the evolution of income inequality. J Econ Behav Organ. 2022;198:15-43. DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2022.03.017
• dc.identifier.doi http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jebo.2022.03.017
• dc.identifier.issn 0167-2681
• dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/57605
• dc.language.iso eng
• dc.publisher Elsevier
• dc.relation.ispartof Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization. 2022;198:15-43.
• dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/2PE/PID2020-115044GB-I00
• dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/2PE/ECO2017-89240-P
• dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/2PE/CEX2019-000915-S
• dc.rights © 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
• dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
• dc.rights.uri http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
• dc.subject.keyword Income generating process
• dc.subject.keyword Interaction network
• dc.subject.keyword Entropy
• dc.subject.keyword Cooperation
• dc.subject.keyword Mutualism
• dc.subject.keyword Income inequality
• dc.subject.keyword Fragility
• dc.subject.keyword Pre-modern society
• dc.title Entropy, directionality theory and the evolution of income inequality
• dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
• dc.type.version info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion