Chapter 6 Globalization with Controlled Income Inequalities: A Cross-Country Study

Globalization is a process of interaction and integration among the countries, their people, their businesses, and their governments. It is a change driven by international trade, implemented by various policies and aided by modern technology. It has impacts on the environment, culture, political systems, economic development and prosperity, and human physical well-being in societies around the world. But there can be some negative impacts as well. One possible outcome of globalization of all sorts can be the income inequalities. Objective of this chapter is to search for any such connection. Gini coefficient, unemployment rate, Below Poverty Line (BPL) is taken to understand the extent of inequalities in different countries. Outcome shows some countries do not show any association between globalization and income inequalities; some do. Therefore, there are some other variables which influence the above relationship. This chapter tries to identify all such background factors. It reveals that factors like level of development, demographic structure, urbanization, adult and tertiary level of education and government expenditure share in higher education play important roles. All these have different magnitudes of impacts on change in income distribution due to the initial process of globalization.