Income inequality and management theory: Systemic considerations and causal paths

Although the study of income inequality has a long and vibrant history in a number of academic fields, management scholars have only recently become interested in the topic. In this review article, we pose three interrelated questions: 1) Is income inequality a topic that falls within the intellectual domain of management scholarship?, 2) How does income inequality fit into the broad landscape of management research, and 3) How can management scholars contribute to the growing body of inequality scholarship? We comment on the role of inequality in economic systems, briefly highlight important work on inequality outside of management, and because there are legitimate questions about the causes and consequences of inequality that involve organizations, we assert that management scholars should actively engage the topic. We address the question of how inequality research fits into the broad landscape of management scholarship by introducing a conceptual framework that identifies key constructs and important ...