Effect of Globalization on Income Inequality in Ghana

Available empirical evidence suggests that globalisation in recent years have had a significant positive impact on various sectors of most economies; however, significant evidence also exists suggesting that this economic process has also accentuated poverty and worsened income distribution in parts of some economies. This study examines the effects of foreign direct investment, trade openness and foreign remittance on income inequality in Ghana. The paper applied the vector error correction model in examining the effect of FDI inflow, foreign remittance and trade openness and income inequality in Ghana. The result indicates Foreign Remittance, FDI, Trade Openness and Gini index, are integrated of order one. Additionally, Johansen’s test for cointegration suggest a long-run relationship between the Gini coefficient (income distribution) and examined independent variables. The study also found out that foreign remittance has a significant negative relationship with Ghana’s income inequality and FDI inflows have no significant impact on Ghana’s income inequality.