Previous work suggested that that the link between inequality and growth is negative among poor countries, but positive or insignificant among rich countries (Barro, 2000). Studies that include both developing and developed countries may therefore capture an average effect, giving misleading results. However, the links between inequality and growth might vary depending on inequality in different parts of the income distribution (Voitchovsky, 2005). For example, many of the negative mechanisms (e.g. financial market imperfections, political instability) are associated with inequality at the bottom end of the distribution, most of the positive mechanisms (e.g. based on different savings propensities or on incentive considerations) are more likely to depend on the degree of inequality in the top of the income distribution.