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Child labour and inequality

The Journal of Economic Inequality volume 14, pages 63–79 (2016)Cite this article

Abstract

This paper focuses on the role that inequality plays in shaping political support for child labour regulation policies. We provide a model of the evolution of child labour, fertility and human capital where the heterogeneity between low- and high-skilled workers allows for an endogenous analysis of inequality generated by child labour. Depending on the initial level of inequality, child labour regulation policies can affect the welfare of low- and high-skilled workers in different ways and therefore can have an impact on political support for their introduction. The possible conflicts of interest that may arise between the two groups can help explain the difficulties that many governments have when dealing with the issue of child labour.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dipartimento di Economia e Management, Università di Pisa, via Ridolfi 10, 56124, Pisa, Italy

    Simone D’Alessandro

  2. Dipartmento di Scienze Economiche, Università degli Studi di Verona, via Cantarane 24, 37129, Verona, Italy

    Tamara Fioroni

Authors
  1. Simone D’Alessandro
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  2. Tamara Fioroni
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Correspondence to Tamara Fioroni.

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D’Alessandro, S., Fioroni, T. Child labour and inequality. J Econ Inequal 14, 63–79 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-015-9319-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10888-015-9319-x

Keywords

  • Child labour
  • Fertility
  • Human capital
  • Inequality
  • Child labour regulation