Human capital Kuznets curve with subsistence consumption level

We examine the human capital Kuznets curve in a simple model that does not assume increasing returns to scale in human capital formation. With a utility function that specifies a subsistence consumption level, consumption is a necessary good and education is a luxury good. As the children of poor households receive a low level of education, the gap in human capital endowments expands between poor and rich households. Eventually, economic development increases income and expenditure for education, and income inequality declines. (c) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.