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Income Inequality in OECD Countries: Data and Explanations

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Anthony B Atkinson ()

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Abstract

There is much disagreement about both the facts and the explanations of income inequality. Even if we confine attention to OECD countries, we find people arguing that there has been a great U-turn, with inequality rising sharply after its post war fall, and others who believe that the speed of change is glacial. In order to evaluate the historical record, we need data for a long run of years. The present paper reviews evidence about covering the period 1945-2001 for nine OECD countries. It is widely believed that rising inequality is attributable to technological change and to globalisation. The second part of the paper argues that these are only part of a complex story. Household incomes depend on public policy and on sources of income apart from work. What is happening at the top of the distribution may need to be explained quite differently

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Paper provided by CESifo Group Munich in its series CESifo Working Paper Series with number CESifo Working Paper No. 881.

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Date of creation: 2003
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Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_881

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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    Other versions:
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Laura de Pablos Escobar, 2006. "The Personal Wealth Taxes: The Inheretance and Gift Taxes and the Net Wealth Tax in Spain," International Studies Program Working Paper Series, at AYSPS, GSU paper0606, International Studies Program, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University. [Downloadable!]
  2. Richard Walker, 2005. "Superstars and Renaissance Men: Specialization, Market Size and the Income Distribution," CEP Discussion Papers dp0707, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  3. Torben M. Andersen & Allan Sørensen, 2007. "Product Market Integration and Labour Markets: Aggregate Gains at the Cost of More Inequality?," IZA Discussion Papers 2556, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Manoj Atolia & Santanu Chatterjee & Stephen J. Turnovsky, 2009. "Growth and Inequality: Dependence of the Time Path of Productivity Increases (and other Structural Changes)," Working Papers wp2009_01_02, Department of Economics, Florida State University. [Downloadable!]
  5. Stephen P. Jenkins & John Micklewright, 2007. "New Directions in the Analysis of Inequality and Poverty," IZA Discussion Papers 2814, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Bjorvatn, Kjetil & Cappelen, Alexander, 2004. "Globalisation, inequality and redistribution," Memorandum 16/2004, Oslo University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Sjef Ederveen & Ruud De Mooij, 2003. "Social Europe," Occasional Papers 05, European Network of Economic Policy Research Institutes. [Downloadable!]
  8. N. Gobbin & G. Rayp, 2004. "Inequality and Growth: Does Time Change Anything?," Working Papers of Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, Ghent University, Belgium 04/230, Ghent University, Faculty of Economics and Business Administration. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. Tom Van Ourti & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Xander Koolman, 2006. "The Effect of Growth and Inequality in Incomes on Health Inequality: Theory and Empirical Evidence from the European Panel," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 06-108/3, Tinbergen Institute. [Downloadable!]
  10. Andrea Brandolini & Timothy M. Smeeding, 2007. "Inequality Patterns in Western-Type Democracies: Cross-Country Differences and Time Changes," CHILD Working Papers wp08_07, CHILD - Centre for Household, Income, Labour and Demographic economics - ITALY. [Downloadable!]
  11. Yu-chin Chen & Stephen J. Turnovsky, 2008. "Growth and Inequality Tradeoffs in a Small Open Economy," Working Papers UWEC-2009-05, University of Washington, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  12. Ximing Wu & Jeffrey Perloff & Amos Golan, 2004. "Government Policy Effects on Urban and Rural Income Inequality," Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley, Working Paper Series 976, Department of Agricultural & Resource Economics, UC Berkeley. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Andersen, Torben M & Sorensen, Allan, 2005. "Product Market Integration, Wages and Inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 4963, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Joseph F. Francois & Hugo Rojas-Romagosa, 2008. "Reassessing the relationship between inequality and development," CPB Discussion Papers 107, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  16. Axel Dreher & Noel Gaston, 2006. "Has globalization increased inequality?," Working papers 06-140, KOF Swiss Economic Institute, ETH Zurich. [Downloadable!]
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  17. Robert Shelburne, 2007. "Trade and Inequality: The Role of Vertical Specialization and Outsourcing," Global Economy Journal, International Trade and Finance Association, vol. 4(2), pages 2. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  18. Lars Osberg & Andrew Sharpe, 2003. "Human Well-being and Economic Well-being: What Values Are Implicit in Current Indices?," CSLS Research Reports 2003-04, Centre for the Study of Living Standards. [Downloadable!]
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