Income distribution and the size of the financial sector: a Sraffian analysis

Abstract

This paper explores the existence of links among the recent trends in income distribution, in the turnover of the financial industry and in financial regulation, moving from Sraffa’s analyses of money and banking. It presents a linear production model where a banking industry is introduced and argues that changes in the size of the financial industry can change the distributive shares even if the rates of profit and wage remain constant. An increase in the new loans to workers can increase the profit share and reduce the wage share through an increase in effective demand and the level of production. The analysis can support the contention that the process of financial deregulation, with the consequent explosion of the financial system and the rise of systemic risk, is at the basis of the increase in income inequality observed in recent years.