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The Fractal Nature of Inequality in a Fast Growing World

Author

Listed:
  • Guido Cozzi
  • Fabio Privileggi
Abstract
In this paper we investigate wealth inequality/polarization properties related to the support of the limit distribution of wealth in innovative economies characterized by uninsurable individual risk. We work out two simple successive generation examples, one with stochastic human capital accumulation and one with R&D, and prove that intense technological progress makes the support of the wealth distribution converge to a fractal Cantor-like set. Such limit distribution implies the disappearance of the middle class, with a “gap” between two wealth clusters that widens as the growth rate becomes higher. Hence, we claim that in a highly meritocratic world in which the payoff of the successful individuals is high enough, and in which social mobility is strong, societies tend to become unequal and polarized. We also show that a redistribution scheme financed by proportional taxation does not help cure society’s inequality/polarization – on the contrary, it might increase it – whereas random taxation may well succeed in filling the gap by giving rise to an artificial middle class, but it hardly makes such class sizeable enough. Finally, we investigate how disconnection, a typical feature of Cantor-like sets, is related to inequality in the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Guido Cozzi & Fabio Privileggi, 2007. "The Fractal Nature of Inequality in a Fast Growing World," Working Papers 2007_45, Business School - Economics, University of Glasgow.
    • Handle: RePEc:gla:glaewp:2007_45
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wealth Inequality; Growth; Technological Change; Fractal; Cantor Set; Invariant Distribution; Polarization; Pulverization;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C61 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Optimization Techniques; Programming Models; Dynamic Analysis
    • O41 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - One, Two, and Multisector Growth Models

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