Convergence in income distributions: Evidence from a Panel of Countries

Title: Convergence in income distributions: Evidence from a Panel of Countries
Format: Journal Article
Publication Date: 2016
Description:

There is growing evidence that countries' income distributions have changed significantly since globalization accelerated in the early 1990s. Using a large panel of Gini indices covering 81 countries between 1990 and 2010, we find strong evidence that inequality declined in nations that were initially highly unequal, while inequality increased in nations with initially low inequality. Developed countries' relative income distributions converged at a more rapid pace. These findings are robust to the method of estimation, level of economic development, time horizon, data source or measure of inequality. Our results suggest that income distributions in countries are becoming increasingly unequal yet more similar to each other.

External Contributors: Dustin Chambers
Citation:

Chambers D. and Dhongde S. “Convergence in income distributions: Evidence from a Panel of Countries”, Economic Modelling (2016), Vol. 59, Pages 262–270

Categories:
  • Development Economics
Related Links:
Related Departments:
  • School of Economics