Income inequality can either help or hurt economic growth, depending on how high or low it is. A study on South Asia found that there is an ideal level of income inequality that maximizes economic growth. This level is at a Gini coefficient of 0.4492. When an economy is at this ideal level, the per capita GDP can double in about 13 years. But if income inequality moves 0.10 units away from this ideal level, it can take 55 to 57 years for the per capita GDP to double.