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Income Distribution in Europe and the United States

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  • A B Atkinson

Abstract

This paper assembles empirical evidence about the personal distribution of income in Europe and the United States. It presents data for the distribution in the 1980s, and shows that the US had distinctly higher inequality, largely arising at the bottom of the scale. Within Western Europe, the Scandinavian countries, Benelux and West Germany have less inequality; southern Europe and Ireland have higher inequality. The differences in the distribution between the US and Europe on be sufficient to outweigh differences in average incomes. Treating the European Union as an entity does not indicate that the difference can be explained simply by scale: prototype estimates indicate that the EU is less unequal than the US. The origin of the difference between the US and Europe appears to have been a period of fall ins inequality in the 1970s. The picture changed in the 1980s, and in the UK and Sweden income inequality rose at a more rapid rate than in the US. Copyright 1996 by Oxford University Press.
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Suggested Citation

  • A B Atkinson, 1995. "Income Distribution in Europe and the United States," Economics Papers 13 & 103., Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    • Handle: RePEc:nuf:econwp:0013
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    Cited by:

    1. Enrico Bolzani & Ramses H. Abul Naga, 2002. "La Distribution des Salaires en Suisse: Quelques Observations sur la Récession des Années 90," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 138(II), pages 115-136, June.
    2. David Jesuit & Douglas Roscoe & Vincent Mahler, 1997. "Exploring the Impact of Trade and Investment on Income Inequality: A Cross-National Sectoral Analysis of the Developed Market Economy Countries," LIS Working papers 159, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    3. Andrea Brandolini & Alfonso Rosolia, 2019. "The Distribution of Well-Being among Europeans," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 1052, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. Christine Mayrhuber & Silvia Rocha-Akis, 2014. "Niedriglohnbeschäftigung und Sozialversicherungsabgaben," WIFO Studies, WIFO, number 60727.
    5. Moshe Justman & Hadas Stiassnie, 2021. "Intergenerational Mobility in Lifetime Income," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(4), pages 928-949, December.
    6. BEBLO Miriam & KNAUS Thomas, 2000. "Measuring Income Inequality in Euroland," IRISS Working Paper Series 2000-10, IRISS at CEPS/INSTEAD.
    7. Reto Foellmi und Josef Zweim�ller, "undated". "Inequality and Economic Growth - European Versus U.S. Experiences," IEW - Working Papers 158, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - University of Zurich.
    8. Magne Mogstad, 2007. "Measuring Income Inequality under Restricted Interpersonal Comparability," Discussion Papers 498, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    9. Andrea Brandolini, 2006. "Measurement of Income Distribution in Supranational Entities: The Case of the European Union," LIS Working papers 452, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    10. Jędrzejczak Alina, 2015. "Regional Income Inequalities In Poland And Italy / Rozkład Nierówności Według Regionów w Polsce i We Włoszech," Comparative Economic Research, Sciendo, vol. 18(4), pages 27-45, December.
    11. Cai, Julie Y. & Wimer, Christopher & Berger, Lonnie, 2021. "Intra-Year Employment Instability and Economic Wellbeing Among Urban Households: Mitigating Effects of the Social Safety Net," SocArXiv vxtdq, Center for Open Science.
    12. Annamaria Simonazzi & Paola Villa, 1999. "Flexibility and Growth," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(3), pages 281-311.
    13. Dumont, Michel, 2004. "The Impact of International Trade with Newly Industrialised Countries on the Wages and Employment of Low-Skilled and High-Skilled Workers in the European Union," Thesis Commons bmxag, Center for Open Science.
    14. Tokman, Víctor E. & Klein, Emilio, 2000. "Social stratification under tension in a globalized era," Revista CEPAL, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL), December.
    15. Tim Goedemé & Lorena Zardo Trindade & Frank Vandenbroucke, 2017. "A Pan-European Perspective on Low-Income Dynamics in the EU," Working Papers 1703, Herman Deleeck Centre for Social Policy, University of Antwerp.
    16. CROCI ANGELINI Elisabetta & D'AMBROSIO Conchita & FARINA Francesco, 2001. "Do Preferences in EU Member-States Support Fiscal Federalism?," IRISS Working Paper Series 2002-01, IRISS at CEPS/INSTEAD.
    17. John Weeks, 2005. "Inequality Trends in Some Developed OECD Countries," Working Papers 6, United Nations, Department of Economics and Social Affairs.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D30 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - General
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D33 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Factor Income Distribution

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