SG - Economic Inequality: A Web of Interactions

Economic Inequality: A Web of Interactions

Inequality is increasingly subject of debate, but what kind of inequality are we actually talking about? The concept of economic inequality entails that we should go beyond income inequality and look also at wealth inequality, which is the channel that transfers inequality to the next generation. Tonight, Wiemer Salverda, Professor emeritus of Labour Market and Inequality, will argue that in addition we need to look beyond both inequalities and consider how they have come to relate to other inequalities, embedded in a process of mutual reinforcement.

The focus is on how in Europe’s dual-earner society employment inequality affects income inequality, which in turn impacts employment inequality as members of high-income households massively compete for low-wage jobs. What role do factors such as gender, household size, and household labour participation play? What does it reveal about the role of meritocracy? And what does this all say about the way we measure and discuss inequality?

About Wiemer Salverda

Wiemer Salverda is Professor emeritus of Labour Market and Inequality at the Amsterdam Centre for Inequality Studies and Director emeritus of the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies (both at the University of Amsterdam).

His research on inequality combines his interest in inequalities in labour markets with that in incomes and wealth. He is a fellow of the World Inequality Database and together with Tony Atkinson investigated the Dutch top-1% since 1914. He coordinated the 30-country research project Growing Inequalities' Impacts GINI (2010-2013), which published its results in two volumes with Oxford University Press (2014). This research examined the evolution of income inequality and its social and political impacts in 30 countries worldwide.

Wiemer Salverda also coordinated the European Low-wage Employment Research Network LoWER (1996-2008), which has published 16 books, special journal issues and reports, including the Oxford Handbook of Economic Inequality (2009). For the Russell Sage Foundation, New York, he led the Dutch research for the Low-wage Work in Europe project that was initiated by Robert Solow (2004-2008). He regularly serves as an expert for the European Commission, OECD and ILO, and was an ECFIN Research Fellow 2014-15 at the European Commission.

About lecture series ‘Economic Inequality’

Discussions on economic inequality have increasingly been gaining traction over the past years. Time to take a dive into this much-discussed theme, and to gain a deeper understanding of its complexities as well as the debates surrounding it.

What are we talking about, and how can we understand the rising attention for economic inequality? Why can people mean different things when they talk about it? And (why) should we care about it? Explore the nature, backgrounds and ramifications of economic inequality, and discuss different perspectives on its (un)acceptability and ways to deal with it.