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Global income inequality by the numbers : in history and now --an overview--

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  • Milanovic, Branko

Abstract

The paper presents an overview of calculations of global inequality, recently and over the long-run as well as main controversies and political and philosophical implications of the findings. It focuses in particular on the winners and losers of the most recent episode of globalization, from 1988 to 2008. It suggests that the period might have witnessed the first decline in global inequality between world citizens since the Industrial Revolution. The decline however can be sustained only if countries'mean incomes continue to converge (as they have been doing during the past ten years) and if internal (within-country) inequalities, which are already high, are kept in check. Mean-income convergence would also reduce the huge"citizenship premium"that is enjoyed today by the citizens of rich countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Milanovic, Branko, 2012. "Global income inequality by the numbers : in history and now --an overview--," Policy Research Working Paper Series 6259, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:6259
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Is inequality good or bad?
      by Johan Fourie in Johan Fourie's Blog on 2014-02-18 01:11:13

    Citations

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    Cited by:

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    2. Somlanare Romuald KINDA & Félix BADOLO, 2014. "Climatic Variability and Food Security in Developing Countries," Working Papers 201405, CERDI.
    3. Rahul Lahoti & Arjun Jayadev & Sanjay G. Reddy, 2014. "The Global Consumption and Income Project (GCIP): An Introduction and Preliminary Findings," LIS Working papers 621, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    4. Isaac Akomea-Frimpong & Caleb Boadi & Roger Owusu-Boafo, 2021. "Determinants and challenges of supplying microlife insurance in Ghana," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 46(3), pages 331-357, July.
    5. Arjun Jayadev & Rahul Lahoti & Sanjay G. Reddy, 2015. "Who Got What, Then and Now? A Fifty Year Overview from the Global Consumption and Income Project," Working Papers 2015_04, University of Massachusetts Boston, Economics Department.
    6. Jomo, K. & Popov, V., 2016. "Long-Term Trends in Income Distribution," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 146-160.
    7. Guillermo Lezama & Henry Willebald, 2020. "Inequality in Pre‐Income Survey Times: A Methodological Proposal," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(4), pages 931-957, December.
    8. Hassine, Nadia Belhaj, 2015. "Economic Inequality in the Arab Region," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 532-556.
    9. Hartmann, Dominik & Guevara, Miguel R. & Jara-Figueroa, Cristian & Aristarán, Manuel & Hidalgo, César A., 2017. "Linking Economic Complexity, Institutions, and Income Inequality," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 75-93.
    10. Ben Slay & Tahmina Anvarova, 2019. "Inequalities in middle-income Europe and Central Asia: A tale of three studies," Russian Journal of Economics, ARPHA Platform, vol. 5(4), pages 441-448, December.
    11. Lahoti Rahul & Jayadev Arjun & Reddy Sanjay, 2016. "The Global Consumption and Income Project (GCIP): An Overview," Journal of Globalization and Development, De Gruyter, vol. 7(1), pages 61-108, June.
    12. Rafiou Alfa Boukari, 2021. "Repenser la lutte contre la pauvreté et des inégalités par l’innovation dans les modèles de développement," Working Papers hal-03177195, HAL.
    13. Peter Edward & Andy Sumner, 2013. "Inequality from a global perspective: An alternative approach," Working Papers 302, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    14. Sudeshna Ghosh & Buhari Doğan & Muhlis Can & Muhammad Ibrahim Shah & Nicholas Apergis, 2023. "Does economic structure matter for income inequality?," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(3), pages 2507-2527, June.
    15. Lucas Herrenbrueck, 2019. "No Elephant in the Room? Noisy Convergence and the Global Growth Incidence Curve," Discussion Papers dp19-06, Department of Economics, Simon Fraser University.
    16. Blampied, Nicolás, 2021. "Economic growth, environmental constraints and convergence," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    17. Sayed, Adham & Peng, Bin, 2020. "The income inequality curve in the last 100 years: What happened to the Inverted-U?," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 63-72.
    18. Le, Thai-Ha & Nguyen, Canh Phuc & Su, Thanh Dinh & Tran-Nam, Binh, 2020. "The Kuznets curve for export diversification and income inequality: Evidence from a global sample," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 21-39.
    19. Teresa Ghilarducci & Joelle Saad-Lessler, 2014. "How 401(k) Plans Make Recessions Worse," SCEPA working paper series. 2014-9, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    20. Bruni, Michele, 2022. "Between-Country Global Inequality and Demographic Change," Jurnal Ekonomi Malaysia, Faculty of Economics and Business, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, vol. 56(3), pages 65-85.
    21. Gemma Cairó-i-Céspedes & David Castells-Quintana, 2016. "Dimensions of the current systemic crisis: Capitalism in short circuit?," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 16(1), pages 1-23, January.
    22. Gevorkyan, Aleksandr V., 2015. "The legends of the Caucasus: Economic transformation of Armenia and Georgia," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 24(6), pages 1009-1024.
    23. Thomas Isbell, 2024. "Where You Sit Is Where You Stand: Perceived (In)Equality and Demand for Democracy in Africa," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 174(3), pages 817-836, September.
    24. Bauer, Johannes M., 2018. "The Internet and income inequality: Socio-economic challenges in a hyperconnected society," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(4), pages 333-343.
    25. Antonio Sianes, 2021. "Academic Research on the 2030 Agenda: Challenges of a Transdisciplinary Field of Study," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(3), pages 286-297, May.

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    Keywords

    Inequality; Poverty Impact Evaluation; Services&Transfers to Poor; Equity and Development; Income;
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