Meritocratic and monopoly inequality: A computer simulation of income distribution

This paper explores the properties of a model of the distribution of income in which individual income is proportional to a multiplicative function of previous income, ability, chance, a ceiling factor determined by competition among members of an income class for resources held by members of other classes, and an additive factor summarizing effects of altruism and minimal subsistence. The behavior of the model is investigated by computer simulation for combinations of values of three model parameters representing the tendency of income to grow exponentially (the Monopoly effect), the weight of the ability factor (the meritocracy effect), and the weight of the ceiling factor resulting from competitive interactions. Steady state income distributions generated by the model are characterized by measures of income inequality, exchange mobility, elite stability, and meritocracy. Results suggest that for constant Monopoly effect, the effect of the meritocracy parameter on various aggregate outcomes is nonlinear, with a range over which greater returns to ability produce lower inequality, lower exchange mobility, greater elite stability and meritocracy, for constant returns to ability, a greater Monopoly effect generally produces greater inequality, more exchange mobility, less stability of the elite, and lower meritocracy. Results also reveal a nonlinear relationship between exchange mobility and inequality, with mobility decreasing to a minimum and then increasing again as inequality increases; a nonlinear but monotonic negative relationship between elite stability and inequality, with greater inequality, associated with less stability, and a nonlinear relationship between meritocracy and inequality, with meritocracy increasing at first with inequality at low inequality levels, reaching a maximum and then decreasing as inequality increases further. These findings are interpreted in relation to major stratification trends in the course of sociocultural evolution.

Notes

Direct correspondence to François Nielsen, Department of Sociology, CB #3210 Hamilton Hall, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 27599–3210. Internet: Francois_Nielsen@uncedu. An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Research Committee 28 (Social Stratification) meeting of the International Sociological Association in Stanford, CA, August 5–8, 1989. I am grateful to John Angle, Jacques Delacroix, Gerhard Lenski, Rachel Rosenfeld, and an anonymous JMS reviewer for valuable comments on earlier drafts.