Income Growth and Income Inequality in Danish Municipalities

Income growth and income inequality is an important theme in Economic research. It has been debated for decades whether income inequality hinders or enhances income growth. One of the classic models of this relationship was the Kuzenets curve which shows inequality against income per capita can be defined by an inverted U-shaped curve, over a period of time. The purpose of the paper is to see to see the relationship between income growth and inequality on a municipality level. To do this, four econometric panel data models were constructed with data gathered from Statbank Denmark. Log of income was used as the dependent variable and different measures of inequality were used as independent variables among other variables (public expenditure, education, population density, demographic composition, taxation). Results from these models show how income growth is positively related to income inequality, with vastly higher growth at the top end of the income distribution in Denmark. The implications of these findings can show that a trade-off between income inequality and income growth is not true, and it is possible that both variables work in tandem. Other factors such as education and demographic composition were also positively correlated with income growth, while other factors, such as taxation, were statistically insignificant. Comprehensive research on inequality and income growth at a municipality level is sparse, especially in the case of Denmark. Thus, this study contributes to research in regional economics.