Five years ago, the Institute for Fiscal Studies, with support from the Nuffield Foundation, launched the IFS Deaton Review. It would be difficult to overstate the energy and scope of this effort. As a journal editor, I am frankly awed by it. Two big pieces of output are now available.

First, there is an “Evidence Volume,” with a mixture of 81 (!) chapters, commentaries, articles and reports divided into 18 (!) categories: 1) what’s wrong with inequality; 2) attitudes toward inequality; 3) trends in economic inequality; 4) history of inequality; 5) political inequality; 6) gender; 7) race; 8) immigration; 9) health; 10) geography; 11) families; 12) early childhood; 13) immigration; 14) the labour market; 15) firms; 16) trade and globalization; 17) top income inequality and tax policy; and 18) benefits and public services.

If you’re interested in issues related to inequality, there’s something for you here. But as the advertisements on late-night television say: “Wait, there’s more!” What about “Country Studies” of inequality? In a parallel project to the official IFS Deaton Review, the June 2024 issue of Fiscal Studies has published a 10-paper special issue on “Changing labour market and income inequalities in Europe and North America: a parallel project to the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities in the 21^st century.

I have my personal and professional vanities, but my mother didn’t raise any sons foolish enough to attempt a summary of 90-plus articles in a blog post. So here, I’ll just provide the table of contents for the “Evidence Volume” and for the special issue of Fiscal Studies, with links to the articles, which all seem to be open access.

 

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Evidence Volume

What’s wrong with inequality?

Chapter: What is wrong with inequality? by Debra Satz and Stuart White

Commentary: How inequality undermines institutions  by Eric Posner

Commentary: Unjust inequalities: Is maximin the answer?  by Philippe Van Parijs

Commentary: Relational equality, mutual benefit and social insurance by Robert Sugden

Attitudes to inequality

Chapter: Attitudes to inequalities by Rebecca Benson, Bobby Duffy, Rachel Hesketh and Kirstie Hewlett

Article: Attitudes to inequality: preferences and beliefs by Ingvild Almås, Alexander W. Cappelen, Erik Øiolf Sørensen and Bertil Tungodden

Article: Perceptions and preferences for redistribution by Stefanie Stantcheva

Report: Public perceptions of inequality in the UK: findings from quantitative research

Trends in economic inequality

Chapter: Trends in income and wealth inequalities by Pascale Bourquin, Mike Brewer and Tom Wernham 

Commentary: Income inequality and income poverty in a cross-national perspective by Janet Gornick

Commentary: Getting the measure of inequality by Stephen Jenkins

Commentary: Twenty-five years of income inequality in Britain: the role of wages, household earnings and redistribution by Jonathan Cribb, Robert Joyce and Thomas Wernham

Commentary: Sociological measures of inequality by Paul Lambert

History of inequality

Chapter: Technical change, globalisation and the labour market: British and American experience since 1620 by Bob Allen

Commentary: The history of inequality: the deep-acting ideological and institutional influences by Simon Szreter

Commentary: Beyond technology and wages: power and the history of inequality by Walter Scheidel

Political inequality

Chapter: Political inequality by Ben Ansell and Jane Gingrich

Commentary: Political inequality: reasons for optimism? by Julia Cage

Commentary: Relational inequality in a (deeply) educationally polarised society: feasible strategies in the longer term by Andrew McNeil and David Soskice

Article: Political Equality: What is it and why does it matter? by Pablo Beramendi, Tim Besley and Margaret Levi

Gender

Chapter: Women and men at work by Alison Andrew, Oriana Bandiera, Monica Costa Dias and Camille Landais

Commentary: Gender revolution, evolution or neverlution? by Lynn Prince Cooke

Commentary: Gendered economic inequalities: a social policy perspective by Fran Bennett

Article: The other side of the mountain: women’s employment and earnings over the family cycle by Claudia Goldin, Sari Pekkala Kerr and Claudia Olivetti

Commentary:  Gender, immigration and ethnicity by Alita Nandi and Lucinda Platt

Race

Chapter: Race and ethnic inequalities by Heidi Mirza and Ross Warwick

Commentary: Race/ethnic inequalities in health: moving beyond confusion to focus on fundamental causes by James Nazroo

Commentary: What does sociological research tell us about ethnic inequalities in European labour markets? by Frank van Tubergen

Commentary: Ethnic and racial inequality in the UK: a comment from a German perspective by Claudia Diehl

Immigration

Chapter: Inequality and immigration by Christian Dustmann , Ian Preston and Yannis Kastis

Commentary: What does sociological research tell us about ethnic inequalities in European labour markets? by Frank van Tubergen

Commentary: Immigration and inequality: the role of politics and policies by Dominik Hangartner and Judith Spirig.

Health

Chapter: Health Inequalities by Anne Case and Lucy Kraftman

Commentary: The contribution of adult experiences, multimorbidity and positive psychological well-being to social inequalities in health by Daisy Fancourt and Andrew Steptoe

Commentary: Socio-economic inequality in the distribution of healthcare in the UK by Carol Propper

Commentary: Health and inequality by Janet Currie

Commentary: Race/ethnic inequalities in health: moving beyond confusion to focus on fundamental causes by James Nazroo

Commentary: Inequalities in disability by James Banks, Heidi Karjalainen and Tom Waters

Geography

Chapter: Spatial disparities across labour markets by Henry Overman and Xiaowei Xu

Commentary: Place-based policies and geographical inequalities by Enrico Moretti

Commentary: Geographies of socio-economic inequality by Maarten van Ham, David Manley and Tiit Tammaru

Commentary: Levelling-up economics by Philip McCann

Article: Communities, places and inequality: a reflection by Ash Amin

Families

Chapter: Families and inequalities by Kathleen Kiernan, Sam Crossman and Angus Phimister

Commentary: How families matter for understanding economic inequality by Cezar Santos and Michele Tertilt

Commentary: Intergenerational mobility in the UK by Laura van der Erve, Sonya Krutikova, Lindsey Macmillan and David Sturrock

Early childhood

Chapter: Early childhood inequalities by Sarah Cattan, Emla Fitzsimons, Alissa Goodman, Angus Phimister, George Ploubidis and Jasmin Wertz

Commentary: Individuals as active co-creators of their environments: implications for prevention of inequalities by Essi Viding and Eamon McCrory

Commentary: The role of parenting in child development by Matthias Doepke and Fabrizio Zilbotti

Commentary: Early childhood inequalities: the rocky path from observation to action by Sophie von Stumm

Education

Chapter: Education Inequalities by Christine Farquharson, Sandra McNally and Imran Tahir

Commentary: Measuring and understanding contemporary English educational inequalities by Diane Reay

Commentary: Private schools and inequality by Francis Green

Commentary: Persistent inequality: contemporary inequality in a historical context by Richard Breen

Commentary: Inequality in English post-16 education by Simon Field

The labour market

Chapter: Labour market inequality by Giulia Giupponi and Steve Machin

Commentary: Labour market inequality: a comparative political economy perspective by David R. Howell and Arne L. Kalleberg

Commentary:Labour market inequality in France and in the UK by Pierre Cahuc

Commentary: Monopsony in local labour markets by Alan Manning and Barbara Petrongolo

Article: A task-based approach to inequality by Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo

Commentary: Public policy and labour market competition by Orley Ashenfelter

Firms

Chapter: Firms and inequality by Jan De Loecker, Tim Obermeier and John Van Reenen

Commentary: Market power and labour market inequality by Jan Eeckhout

Commentary: Competition and industrial policy in the 21st century by Jean Tirole

Commentary: The inclusive entrepreneurial state: collective wealth creation and distribution by Mariana Mazzucato

Commentary: Inequality, firms, ownership and governance by Colin Mayer

Commentary: Innovation and inequalities by Philippe Aghion and Rachel Griffith

Trade and globalisation

Chapter: Trade and inequality in Europe and the US by David Dorn and Peter Levell

Commentary: A primer on trade and inequality by Dani Rodrik

Commentary: Trade and price-index inequality by David Atkin

Top income inequality and tax policy

Chapter: Top income inequality and tax policy by Isaac Delestre, Wojciech Kopczuk, Helen Miller and Kate Smith

Commentary: Top incomes and tax policy by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman

Commentary: Measuring and taxing top incomes and wealth by Arun Advani and Andy Summers

Commentary: Discussion of top incomes and tax policy by Owen Zidar

Benefits and public services

Chapter: Benefits and tax credits by Hilary Hoynes, Robert Joyce and Tom Waters 

Commentary: Why has the UK’s social security system become so means-tested? by Nicholas Timmins

Commentary: Living at the sharp end of socio-economic inequality: everyday experiences of poverty and social security receipt by Ruth Patrick

Commentary: Transfers, taxes, and tax credits for those on low incomes: beyond Mirrlees by Robert Moffitt

Commentary: The German transfer system for the working-age population: design, changes and consequences by Jan Brülle and Markus Gangl

Commentary: The Welfare State and Inequality: were the UK reforms of the 1940s a success? by Nicholas Crafts

Commentary: The distribution of public service spending by Kate Ogden and David Phillips

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SPECIAL JUNE 2024 ISSUE OF FISCAL STUDIES

 

• “Changing labour market and income inequalities in Europe and North America: a parallel project to the IFS Deaton Review of Inequalities in the 21^st century,” by James Banks,  Richard Blundell,  Antoine Bozio,  Jonathan Cribb,  David Green,  James P. Ziliak
• “Canadian inequality over the last 40 years: common and contrary variations on universal themes,” by Kelly Foley,  David A. Green,  W. Craig Riddell
• “Labour market and income inequalities in the United Kingdom, 1968–2021,” by Jonathan Cribb
• “Income inequality in Ireland, 1987–2019,” by Barra Roantree,  Michelle Barrett
• “Income inequality in the United States, 1975–2022,” by Bradley L. Hardy,  Elizabeth Krause,  James P. Ziliak
• “Inequality in Denmark, 1987–2021,” by Søren Leth-Petersen,  Johan Sæverud
• “Components of the evolution of income inequality in Sweden, 1990–2021,” by Arizo Karimi,  Charlotte Lucke,  Mårten Palme
• “Changing patterns of inequality in Norway: the roles of gender, education, immigration and unions,” by Patrick Bennett,  Kjell Salvanes
• “Examining inequalities: from labour markets to social outcomes in Finland,” by Tuuli Paukkeri,  Terhi Ravaska,  Marja Riihelä
• “Family and career: an analysis across Europe and North America,” by Luis Guirola,  Laura Hospido,  Andrea Weber

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