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Although it is not a new phenomenon, in recent years inequality has moved to the top of the political agenda given the concern that will result in political instability and social resentment. Persistence in inequality can further undermine economic growth and development by hindering educational opportunities, human capital formation, and intergenerational mobility. The persistent nature of inequality stands as one of the most serious challenges for the global economy. This paper analyses inequality persistence for a sample of 60 countries from 1984 to 2015. The authors conclude that inequality is persistent and government redistribution polices through taxes and transfers did not significantly reduce inequality persistence.

In this paper, we provide a comprehensive study of the linkages between global commodity price shocks and national financial markets. We consider an overall price index, three proxies of global oil shocks (overall, supply and demand) and non‐oil (metal) price shocks and assess their causal relationships with the stock prices of a large set of heterogeneous countries in terms of development. Using a mixed‐frequency VAR approach in a time‐varying setting, we construct a Global Commodity Connectivity Index and a Global Stock Connectivity Index to monitor the prevalence, over time, of Granger‐Causality from commodities to stock markets and vice versa. Our results show the existence of time‐varying causality during the observed period depending on the level of country development and the position on the global commodity shocks super‐cycles: the commodities depression of the 1980s and 1990s, the commodity boom of the 2000s and the post‐Global Financial Crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8586.2009.00318.x Byline: Atanu Ghoshray (*) Keywords: ESTAR; extent of the market; non-linear adjustment Abstract: ABSTRACT This paper employs a novel method to determine whether the prices of various types of coffee are co-integrated. In the spirit of Stigler's arbitrage definition of the market, an attempt is made to test whether all the prices co-integrate in pairs, implying that there is a single market for coffee. This test for co-integration is carried out using both linear and non-linear approaches. This finding demonstrates that the conclusions drawn from the linear and non-linear tests may be drastically different. Author Affiliation: (*)Department of Economics and International Development, University of Bath, UK Article note: Correspondence: Department of Economics and International Development, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath BA2 7AY, UK. Tel: +44-1225-386402; Fax: +44-1225-383423; Email: a.ghoshray@bath.ac.uk.

To purchase or authenticate to the full-text of this article, please visit this link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-7976.2007.00079.x Byline: Atanu Ghoshray (1) Abstract: Durum wheat is one of the commodities for which there is intense trade competition between the United States and Canada. This article examines the relationship between Canadian and U.S. durum wheat prices using cointegration and an asymmetric error correction approach. The overall results suggest that a long run relation holds between the U.S. and Canadian durum wheat prices. The U.S. price responds to restore the equilibrium relationship with the corresponding Canadian price, while the Canadian price evolves independently. Using tests for structural change it is revealed that changes in Canadian domestic policy (the repeal of the WGTA) had an effect on this long run relation. Since the withdrawal of the WGTA, quality differences in durum wheat for both countries seem to matter in the dynamics and integration of U.S. and Canadian durum wheat prices. Le ble dur est l'une des denrees pour lesquelles les Etats-Unis et le Canada se livrent une concurrence feroce. Le present article examine la relation entre les prix du ble dur americain et canadien en utilisant la cointegration et un modele a correction d'erreur asymetrique. Les resultats globaux semblent indiquer qu'il existe depuis longtemps une relation entre les prix du ble americain et canadien. Le prix americain reagit pour retablir la relation d'equilibre avec le prix canadien correspondant, tandis que le prix canadien evolue de facon independante. Des tests effectues pour verifier les repercussions des changements structurels ont indique que des changements dans la politique interieure canadienne (notamment l'abrogation de la Loi sur le transport du grain de l'Ouest - LTGO) ont eu une influence sur cette relation. Depuis l'abolition de la LTGO, des differences de qualite de ble dur dans les deux pays semblent avoir de l'importance dans la dynamique et l'integration des prix du ble dur canadien et americain. Author Affiliation: (1)University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, United Kingdom (phone: +44(0) 1225 386402; fax: +44(0) 1225 383423; e-mail:ecsag@bath.ac.uk).

Since the turn of the century, China has experienced economic growth that has called for rapid industrialisation, infrastructure growth and urbanisation, making China highly dependent on primary commodities. The resource intensive growth path followed by a slowdown in recent years has raised the question to what extent her demand for commodities can affect international commodity prices. To this end, recent studies have analysed the link between economic growth or slowdown on commodity prices using linear multivariate models. However, a problem is that commodity prices are known to be highly variable and characterised by multiple structural changes. With such characteristics of the data, it is likely to be the case one may obtain mis‐specified inferences from a linear multivariate framework. Accordingly, we make use of novel Flexible Fourier Form (FFF) econometric procedures to account for multiple breaks in the economic variables, which have better power and size properties over the standard linear models. We find that the persistence of economic variables employed in this study and their causal link are better approximated by such nonlinear FFF procedures. Our results show that there is evidence of short run predictability between selected commodity prices and economic growth in China. Further, the responses of different commodity prices to shocks in economic growth are quite profound especially for those cases where we find causal links with economic growth in China. While we find a significant impact of economic growth of China on commodity prices, the response varies for different commodities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]