We estimate the effect of initial income inequality on subsequent income per capita growth using sub-national data from Brazil over the period 1970–2000. Holding initial income per capita and standard confounders constant, we find that sub-national units with a higher share of income going to the middle quintile at the expense of the bottom quintile grow more rapidly, while places with a higher share of income going to the top quintile at the expense of the middle quintile get no growth boost at all. We document that both physical and human capital accumulation in places with higher inequality in the lower tail of the initial income distribution outpace capital accumulation in more equal places, while inequality in the upper tail of the distribution is uncorrelated with subsequent physical or human capital growth. These results are consistent with theories on credit constraints and setup costs for human and physical capital investments.

中文翻译：

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哪条尾巴重要？巴西的不平等与增长

我们使用来自巴西的1970-2000年间的地方数据估算了初始收入不平等对随后的人均收入的影响。在保持人均初始收入和标准混杂因子不变的情况下，我们发现收入份额较高的次国家单位（以收入最低的五分位数为代价）增长更快，而收入份额较高的地方则流向了中等收入人群。最高的五分位数以牺牲中间的五分位数为代价，根本没有增长。我们证明，在初始收入分配的较低尾部不平等程度较高的地方，物质和人力资本积累都比在更均等的地方的资本积累要高，而在分配的较高尾部的收入不平等与随后的物质或人力资本增长无关。