Institutional bases of household income dispersion in Poland and in France. A retrospective analysis

Abstract

Household income dispersion in Poland is growing systematically. Since the late 1970s, the Gini index has increased from 0.252 (1975) to 0.313 (2016). At the same time in France, the ratio has dropped from 0.34 (late 1970s) to 0.293 (2016). A higher income dispersion is also observed among various occupations and across genders. The ratio of minimum to average wages has increased from 33.7% (1975) to 45.45% (2019). The research period covers the period of the centrally planned economy in Poland, when income leveling was an effect of government policy, and that of the market economy, which caused significant income disparities. The research problem is the growing household income dispersion in Poland. The aim of the study was to determine the institutional sources of increasing income dispersion. The study involved a comparative analysis of income dispersion in the years 1975–2017 in the context of institutional changes taking place in these countries, especially after 1990. The author applied a hypothetico-deductive method. Having analysed income dispersion, the author made a hypothesis regarding the influence of institutional changes on this phenomenon and presented the groups of institutional factors. The conducted research indicated inequalities in Poland grew mainly as a result of high dynamics in the income of the highest earners (top 10% and 1%). The social policy of the Polish government may have had little impact on this factor. Moreover, the distributional effects of taxes and transfers were slightly weaker in Poland than in France. An increase in the scale of acceptance of the inequality level in Poland over the past few years is noteworthy. In France, the public opposition to inequality is growing, even though income inequality is lower than in many European countries.