Abstract
new dataset for charting the development of global inequality between 1820 and 2000 is presented,
based on a large variety of sources and methods for estimating (gross household) income inequality. On
this basis we estimate the evolution of global income inequality over the past two centuries. Two sets
of benchmarks about between-country inequality (the Maddison 1990 benchmark and the recent 2005
ICP round) are taken into account. We find that between 1820 and 1950, increasing per capita income
is combined with increasing global inequality. After 1950, global inequality as measured by the Gini
coefficient or the Theil index remains more or less constant. It also appears that the global income
distribution was uni-modal in the nineteenth century, became increasingly bi-modal between 1910 and
1970 with two world wars, a depression and de-globalization, and was suddenly transformed back into
a uni-modal distribution between 1980 and 2000.
based on a large variety of sources and methods for estimating (gross household) income inequality. On
this basis we estimate the evolution of global income inequality over the past two centuries. Two sets
of benchmarks about between-country inequality (the Maddison 1990 benchmark and the recent 2005
ICP round) are taken into account. We find that between 1820 and 1950, increasing per capita income
is combined with increasing global inequality. After 1950, global inequality as measured by the Gini
coefficient or the Theil index remains more or less constant. It also appears that the global income
distribution was uni-modal in the nineteenth century, became increasingly bi-modal between 1910 and
1970 with two world wars, a depression and de-globalization, and was suddenly transformed back into
a uni-modal distribution between 1980 and 2000.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 279-297 |
| Number of pages | 19 |
| Journal | Review of Income and Wealth |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 2 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 2014 |
Keywords
- economic development
- inequality
- output convergence
- world
