HOUSEHOLD CHARACTERISTICS AND INCOME INEQUALITY DURING INFLATIONARY PERIODS - RECENT-EVIDENCE FROM SURINAM

This paper examines the distributional consequences of a high inflatio n episode in Suriname during 1990-94 using household survey data. We e xamine not only the apparent macroeconomic correlation between high in flation and income distribution, but also the micro-level characterist ics of winning and losing households. We hypothesize that education si gnificantly affects households' ability to recognize and respond to hi gh inflation and thereby influences the evolution of income distributi on. Our econometric analysis supports this conjecture. We also explore the role of economic sector and ethnicity on changes in a household's position within the income distribution under high inflation. (C) 199 8 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.