Why Does Capital Flow from Equal to Unequal Countries?

Capital flows from equal to unequal countries. We find this to be true in both advanced and in emerging economies, and we find this result to be largely driven by private savings. We introduce a model that can rationalize this fact: more unequal countries endogenously develop deeper financial markets. These markets, in turn, allow households in unequal countries to borrow more, hence the observed direction of capital flows.