Author: Marco Ranaldi
Institution: Stone Center Working Paper Series no. 62
Date: February 2023 (Revised August 2025)
Abstract:
This paper uses elements of fractal geometry to describe the distribution of income among individuals. It shows the existence of a stochastic fractal relationship between a country's output and income inequality: the higher the level of income inequality, the lower the country's output. The framework thus allows us to isolate the impact of inequality on output from that of average growth. A parallel between this framework and a welfarist approach to distributional analysis is also discussed.
