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Revisiting the trends in global inequality

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  • Gradín, Carlos

Abstract

I analyze trends in global income distribution since 1950 using a new companion WIID dataset with standardized country income percentiles. I investigate the robustness of these trends with respect to key data choices, as well as the degree to which the inequality trend depends on specific distributional views (such as the use of absolute versus relative inequality, or relative emphasis at the bottom versus the top). The results show a robust increase in absolute inequality, along with a more nuanced trend in relative inequality, with a very robust decline after 2000 that was interrupted by the COVID crisis but is expected to continue at least until 2028.

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  • Gradín, Carlos, 2024. "Revisiting the trends in global inequality," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:179:y:2024:i:c:s0305750x24000779
    DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2024.106607
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    1. Carlos Gradín & Gabriela Zapata-Román, 2024. "Unpacking inequality of opportunity in Chile: the role of birth circumstances using a Shapley decomposition," Working Papers 676, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Global inequality; Income distribution; World Income Inequality Database;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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