Do policies and institutions matter for pre-tax income inequality? I build an annual panel of 43 countries for the period 1980–2016 to document cross-country facts. I find robust correlations between pre-tax income shares and economic policy—financial development, trade openness, government expenditure, and income taxation—even after controlling for economic development. I further find that proxies of institutional quality—e.g., state development, corruption, or political exclusion—mediate the relationship between top income shares and economic policy, in particular for trade openness and government expenditure. The role of institutions in allowing or limiting rent-seeking can rationalize the results.

政策和制度对税前收入不平等是否有影响？我每年建立一个由43个国家/地区组成的年度小组，以记录1980-2016年的跨国事实。我发现，即使在控制经济发展之后，税前收入份额与经济政策（金融发展，贸易开放度，政府支出和所得税）之间也存在密切的相关性。我进一步发现，制度质量的代理人（例如国家发展，腐败或政治排斥）可以调节最高收入份额与经济政策之间的关系，尤其是在贸易开放性和政府支出方面。制度在允许或限制寻租中的作用可以使结果合理化。