Date of Award

2017

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

First Advisor

Monica Das

Abstract

Economic well being has increased considerably in the last three decades that has caused an income gap in the United States has increased in the same time frame. Various distinguished economists have argued since 1955 about the various factors that cause this trend. Income Inequality occurs because a number of factors impact it such as the productivity of a country.

Technological change has been a major factor contributing to the income gap. It has favored high skilled workers and various industries in the United States. In addition, there is an analysis of the effects of globalization and how it causes an upsurge of income inequality in developed countries, such as the United States. It uses globalization as a proxy for openness to trade in the analysis and considers the rising overall impact of trade. The results show certain trends and expectations for and against the literature, some of which that dates back to Kuznets’ hypothesis from 1955. The paper also analyses Kuznets’ relationship with respect to economic productivity of the United States. Finally it looks at and analyses the positive effects of how labor unions decrease income inequality and ultimately proposes potential reforms to reduce the snowballing income gap in the United States in the last 36 years.

Included in

Economics Commons

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