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THE WORLDWIDE INCOME DISTRIBUTION: SOME SPECULATIVE CALCULATIONS *
Author(s) -
Whallye John
Publication year - 1979
Publication title -
review of income and wealth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.024
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1475-4991
pISSN - 0034-6586
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-4991.1979.tb00099.x
Subject(s) - arbitrariness , economics , variety (cybernetics) , income distribution , distribution (mathematics) , econometrics , variable (mathematics) , quality (philosophy) , population , demographic economics , statistics , mathematics , inequality , demography , sociology , mathematical analysis , philosophy , linguistics , epistemology
This paper uses a variety of assumptions to produce calculations of worldwide income distributions from recent international data compilations. The variable quality of the source materials in these compilations along with the arbitrariness in the assumptions required are emphasized. A number of working hypotheses for the worldwide income distribution are offered until data and methods improve. It is suggested the top 1 percent of world population may receive 10–15 percent of world income, the top 10 percent from 45–65 percent, and the bottom 20 percent from 1–4 percent. These figures seem more unequal than those for domestic distributions even for more inegalitarian countries.