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Abstract

This chapter investigates recent advances in our understanding of the global distribution of income, and produces the first estimates of global inequality that take into account data on the incomes of the top one percent within countries.

We discuss conceptual and methodological issues - including alter­native definitions of the global distribution, the use of household surveys and national accounts data, the use of purchasing power parity exchange rates, and the incorporation of recently available data on top incomes from income tax records. We also review recent attempts to estimate the global distribu­tion of income. Our own estimates combine household survey data with top income data, and we analyze various aspects of this distribution, including its within- and between-country components, and changes in relative versus absolute global inequality. Finally, we examine global poverty, which is identified through the lower end of the global distribution.

Handbook of Income Distribution, Volume 2A

937

ISSN 1574-0056, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-444-59428-0.00012-6

Keywords

Global inequality, purchasing power parity exchange rates, household surveys, national accounts, top incomes, global poverty

JEL Classification Codes

D63, E01, I32

11.1.

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Source: Atkinson Anthony, Bourguignon François. Handbook of Income Distribution. Volume 2A. North Holland,2014. — 2366 p.. 2014
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