BigBang_1971_2010

Summary:  View help for Summary This study examines the causal impact of Britain's 1986 'Big Bang' financial deregulation on living standards inequality in the United Kingdom. Using the synthetic control method, the study constructs a counterfactual UK from a donor pool of 14 high-income peer countries over the period 1971–2000. The primary outcome variable is the Gini coefficient of consumption distributions. Predictor variables cover four domains: economic indicators (GDP growth, GDP per capita, trade openness, stock market capitalisation, government expenditure, inflation, unemployment); financial openness and regulation (Chinn-Ito index, Quinn capital and current account indices, income and capital gains taxation); political institutions (executive party orientation, electoral system, legal origin); and education and labour market conditions (employment protection strictness, years of schooling). Data are drawn from the World Bank World Development Indicators, the Global Financial Development Database, the Database of Political Institutions, the OECD Indicators of Employment Protection, and the Chinn-Ito and Quinn indices. Supplementary analyses draw on net personal wealth by percentile from the World Inequality Database and regional disposable income and GDP growth data from the Office for National Statistics, covering UK regions over the periods 1971–1985 and 1986–2000.

Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage United States, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Spain, Canada, Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, Norway, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Italy, Israel, Australia, France

Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 1971 – 2010

Data Source:  View help for Data Source The dataset draws on seven primary sources. The dependent variable, the Gini index of consumption distributions, and the majority of economic indicators (GDP growth, GDP per capita, trade openness, government expenditure, inflation, unemployment, taxation) are sourced from the World Bank World Development Indicators. Stock market capitalisation is drawn from the World Bank Global Financial Development Database. Financial openness is measured using the Chinn-Ito index (Chinn and Ito, 2021) and the Quinn indices of capital and current account restrictions (Quinn and Toyoda, 2008). Political institution variables are sourced from the World Bank Database of Political Institutions, with legal origin drawn from La Porta et al. (1997). Labour market data on employment protection strictness are taken from the OECD Indicators of Employment Protection, while years of schooling are sourced from the World Development Indicators.