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The Price of Success: Income Inequality in the Global City-State of Singapore 1999-2017

Iaw, Isabelle Huiwen LU (2020) EKHS22 20201
Department of Economic History
Abstract
Singapore has remarkably transformed from a small and poor Southeast Asian island into an affluent global city-state today. However, in contemporary times, the distribution of the gains from the nation’s progress and prosperity has been increasingly unequal. An understanding of the extent of income inequality is imperative to reassess the current policies and resource allocation decisions. The aim of the paper is to calculate the level of market income inequality among individuals aged 15 years and above in the Singapore labor force from 1999 to 2017 against the backdrop of the city-state’s long-standing liberal immigration policies. It primarily uses the Gini coefficient with the interpretation of the findings using existing theories on... (More)
Singapore has remarkably transformed from a small and poor Southeast Asian island into an affluent global city-state today. However, in contemporary times, the distribution of the gains from the nation’s progress and prosperity has been increasingly unequal. An understanding of the extent of income inequality is imperative to reassess the current policies and resource allocation decisions. The aim of the paper is to calculate the level of market income inequality among individuals aged 15 years and above in the Singapore labor force from 1999 to 2017 against the backdrop of the city-state’s long-standing liberal immigration policies. It primarily uses the Gini coefficient with the interpretation of the findings using existing theories on inequality as the framework. It also probes into the plausible deeper ‘ultimate’ causes of long-run inequality trends, which lie in its entrenched institutions. Results indicate that income inequality has been generally increasing until its first peak in 2007, and thereafter eased into a plateau until 2017. Over the period, the income share of the bottom 50% actually halved while the middle 40% has relatively gained. When the ideology in the state’s narratives: global competitiveness, meritocracy, and minimalist welfare permeate the society at large, the notion of income inequality may become self-reinforced and legitimized. These findings highlight that more holistic affirmative action is needed to reconnect disadvantaged parts of the population to opportunities and the growth process in order for them to share the benefits of the nation’s progress and prosperity. (Less)
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author
Iaw, Isabelle Huiwen LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHS22 20201
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Income Inequality, Institutions, Labor Force, Singapore
language
English
id
9021141
date added to LUP
2020-07-03 12:06:00
date last changed
2020-07-03 12:06:00
@misc{9021141,
  abstract     = {{Singapore has remarkably transformed from a small and poor Southeast Asian island into an affluent global city-state today. However, in contemporary times, the distribution of the gains from the nation’s progress and prosperity has been increasingly unequal. An understanding of the extent of income inequality is imperative to reassess the current policies and resource allocation decisions. The aim of the paper is to calculate the level of market income inequality among individuals aged 15 years and above in the Singapore labor force from 1999 to 2017 against the backdrop of the city-state’s long-standing liberal immigration policies. It primarily uses the Gini coefficient with the interpretation of the findings using existing theories on inequality as the framework. It also probes into the plausible deeper ‘ultimate’ causes of long-run inequality trends, which lie in its entrenched institutions. Results indicate that income inequality has been generally increasing until its first peak in 2007, and thereafter eased into a plateau until 2017. Over the period, the income share of the bottom 50% actually halved while the middle 40% has relatively gained. When the ideology in the state’s narratives: global competitiveness, meritocracy, and minimalist welfare permeate the society at large, the notion of income inequality may become self-reinforced and legitimized. These findings highlight that more holistic affirmative action is needed to reconnect disadvantaged parts of the population to opportunities and the growth process in order for them to share the benefits of the nation’s progress and prosperity.}},
  author       = {{Iaw, Isabelle Huiwen}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Price of Success: Income Inequality in the Global City-State of Singapore 1999-2017}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}