Does inequality hamper long run growth? Evidence from Emerging Economies

In this paper, we analyse the simultaneous relationship between growth, distribution and re-distribution in selected twenty nine Emerging Economies. The analysis is premised on the distinction between market induced inequality, conceived as distribution, and the outcome post- government intervention as redistribution. Three issues emerge from our analysis; the lack of consistent data and uniform definition of 'inequality' in the empirical literature, the difficulty in establishing definitive causation between growth and the other two variables, and the complex linkages between growth, distribution and re-distribution, Our results show that, controlling for re-distributive transfers, inequality has a significant detrimental effect on growth in the long run. Further, we find no trade-off between re-distribution and growth both in the long run and short run.