Bocconi

Dondena Initiatives highlight current and prospective research pursued by our faculty in societally-relevant areas which might be appealing for external donors.

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The origins and consequences of economic inequality in human societies

The origins and consequences of economic inequality in human societies

Guido Alfani, Mattia Fochesato

 

Economic inequality is a persistent feature of human societies and it has been growing across our history. The first societies of farmers and herders of the Neolithic were more unequal than the hunter-gatherers that preceded them. Economic inequality increased further with the appearance of the first states. It grew constantly from the late Middle Ages to the end of the nineteenth century, as evidenced by an increasingly large mass of data (mostly collected by previous projects hosted by Bocconi University). Finally, a reversal in the trend: in the first part of the twentieth century, until the 1970s, inequality declined dramatically across the West and other world areas. Today, however, after several decades of resumed growth in both income and wealth inequality, we must wonder whether the decline of the twentieth century was, after all, just one exception. But even if it was, is this an exception that we could (and probably should) somehow replicate, striving to create the conditions for enduring equality and for a truly level playing field for future generations?

Based on recent research, it is absolutely clear that it is not possible to truly understand not only the origins, but also the consequences and the real implications, of economic inequality in human societies of any time without adopting a long-run perspective. This is what our team at Bocconi specializes in, producing world-class research with substantial impact on debates relevant to civil society and to policymaking. The Initiative is meant to channel resources into several research areas: understanding the connection between the concentration of political power and economic resources in different historical (and present) political regimes; exploring the long-term connections between economic inequality and economic growth, and the general consequences that inequality has for prospects of economic (and social) development; analyzing the long-term relationship between technological change and economic inequality, and what this suggests regarding the ultimate impact of the spread in the use of AI; expanding the base of data available for comparative studies, both in Italy and other European regions and in non-Western areas.

 

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