This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data


[ Papers | Articles | Software | Books | Chapters | Authors | Institutions | JEL Classification | NEP reports | Search | New papers by email | Author registration | Rankings | Volunteers | FAQ | Blog | Help! ]

The World Distribution of Income (estimated from Individual Country Distributions)

Author info | Abstract | Publisher info | Download info | Related research | Statistics
Author Info
Xavier Sala-i-Martin

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

We estimate the world distribution of income by integrating individual income distributions for 125 countries between 1970 and 1998. We estimate poverty rates and headcounts by integrating the density function below the $1/day and $2/day poverty lines. We find that poverty rates decline substantially over the last twenty years. We compute poverty headcounts and find that the number of one-dollar poor declined by 235 million between 1976 and 1998. The number of $2/day poor declined by 450 million over the same period. We analyze poverty across different regions and countries. Asia is a great success, especially after 1980. Latin America reduced poverty substantially in the 1970s but progress stopped in the 1980s and 1990s. The worst performer was Africa, where poverty rates increased substantially over the last thirty years: the number of $1/day poor in Africa increased by 175 million between 1970 and 1998, and the number of $2/day poor increased by 227. Africa hosted 11% of the world's poor in 1960. It hosted 66% of them in 1998. We estimate nine indexes of income inequality implied by our world distribution of income. All of them show substantial reductions in global income inequality during the 1980s and 1990s.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help file. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w8933.pdf
File Format: application/pdf
File Function:
Download Restriction: Access to the full text is generally limited to series subscribers, however if the top level domain of the client browser is in a developing country or transition economy free access is provided. More information about subscriptions and free access is available at http://www.nber.org/wwphelp.html.

As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 8933.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML, plain text, BibTeX, RIS (EndNote), ReDIF
Length:
Date of creation: May 2002
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8933

Note: EFG
Contact details of provider:
Postal: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A.
Phone: 617-868-3900
Email:
Web page: http://www.nber.org
More information through EDIRC

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().

Related research
Keywords:

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
F0 - International Economics - - General

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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.:
  1. Charles I. Jones, . "On the Evolution of the World Income Distribution," Working Papers 97009, Stanford University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Michael Kremer & Alexei Onatski & James Stock, 2001. "Searching for Prosperity," NBER Working Papers 8250, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Ravallion, Martin & Datt, Gaurav & van de Walle, Dominique, 1991. "Quantifying Absolute Poverty in the Developing World," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(4), pages 345-61, December.
  4. Shorrocks, A F, 1980. "The Class of Additively Decomposable Inequality Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 48(3), pages 613-25, April. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. T. Paul Schultz, 1998. "Inequality in the Distribution of Personal Income in the World: How it is Changing and Why," Working Papers 784, Economic Growth Center, Yale University.
    Other versions:
  6. D Quah, 1996. "Convergence," CEP Discussion Papers 0290, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE. [Downloadable!]
  7. Bourguignon, Francois, 1979. "Decomposable Income Inequality Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 47(4), pages 901-20, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Xavier Sala-i-Martin, 2002. "The disturbing "rise" of global income inequality," Discussion Papers 0102-44, Columbia University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  9. Quah, Danny, 1996. "Twin Peaks: Growth and Convergence in Models of Distribution Dynamics," CEPR Discussion Papers 1355, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  10. Steve Dowrick & Muhammad Akmal, 2005. "CONTRADICTORY TRENDS IN GLOBAL INCOME INEQUALITY: A TALE OF TWO BIASES ," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(2), pages 201-229, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Quah, Danny, 2002. "One Third of the World's Growth and Inequality," CEPR Discussion Papers 3316, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Anthony B. Atkinson & Andrea Brandolini, 2001. "Promise and Pitfalls in the Use of "Secondary" Data-Sets: Income Inequality in OECD Countries As a Case Study," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 39(3), pages 771-799, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Ravallion, Martin & Chen, Shaohua, 1997. "What Can New Survey Data Tell Us about Recent Changes in Distribution and Poverty?," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 11(2), pages 357-82, May.
    Other versions:
  14. Grosh, Margaret E & Nafziger, E Wayne, 1986. "The Computation of World Income Distribution," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(2), pages 347-59, January.
  15. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 565-91, September.
Full references

Cited by:
(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. Andrew Sharpe, 2004. "Exploring the Linkages between Productivity and Social Development in Market Economies," CSLS Research Reports 2004-02, Centre for the Study of Living Standards. [Downloadable!]
  2. Rodrigo Reis Soares, 2006. "On the determinants of mortality reductions in the developing world," Textos para discussão 529, Department of Economics PUC-Rio (Brazil). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  3. Chaudhuri, Shubham & Ravallion, Martin, 2006. "Partially awakened giants : uneven growth in China and India," Policy Research Working Paper Series 4069, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  4. Mistiaen, Johan A. & Ravallion, Martin, 2003. "Survey compliance and the distribution of income," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2956, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  5. Francois, Joseph F. & Rojas-Romagosa, Hugo, 2005. "The construction and interpretation of combined cross-section and time-series inequality datasets," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3748, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Kym Anderson, 2004. "Agricultural trade reform and poverty reduction in developing countries," The Institute for International Integration Studies Discussion Paper Series iiisdp014, IIIS. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  7. Sanjay G. Reddy & Camelia Minoiu, 2006. "Chinese Poverty: Assessing the Impact of Alternative Assumptions," Working Papers 25, International Poverty Centre. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. E. Santarelli & P. Figini, 2002. "Does Globalization Reduce Poverty? Some Empirical Evidence for the Developing Countries," Working Papers 459, Dipartimento Scienze Economiche, Università di Bologna. [Downloadable!]
  9. Bourguignon, Francois & Levin, Victoria & Rosenblatt, David, 2006. "Global redistribution of income," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3961, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  10. Boyan Jovanovic, 2004. "The Product Cycle and Inequality," NBER Working Papers 10910, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  11. Gary S. Becker & Tomas J. Philipson & Rodrigo R. Soares, 2005. "The Quantity and Quality of Life and the Evolution of World Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 277-291, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  12. Ann Harrison, 2006. "Globalization and Poverty," NBER Working Papers 12347, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Thierry Buchs, 2005. "Privatization in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some Lessons from Experiences to Date," Microeconomics 0502007, EconWPA. [Downloadable!]
  14. Ravallion, Martin, 2003. "The debate on globalization, poverty, and inequality : why measurement matters," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3038, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
  15. Korinek, Anton & Mistiaen, Johan A. & Ravallion, Martin, 2005. "Survey nonresponse and the distribution of income," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3543, The World Bank. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
Statistics
Access and download statistics

Did you know? IDEAS uses the data collected within the RePEc project, the largest online bibliographic database in Economics.

This page was last updated on 2008-5-20.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.