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Decomposing Global Inequality
Author(s) -
Modalsli Jørgen
Publication year - 2017
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/roiw.12230
Subject(s) - gini coefficient , economic inequality , inequality , economics , income inequality metrics , income distribution , china , demographic economics , development economics , geography , mathematics , mathematical analysis , archaeology
This paper provides an intuitive additive decomposition of the global income Gini coefficient with respect to differences within and between countries. In 2005, nearly half the total global income inequality is due to income differences between Europeans and North Americans on the one side and inhabitants of Asia on the other, with the China‐USA income differences alone accounting for six percent of global inequality. Historically, income differences between Asia and Europe have driven a large part of global inequality, but the quantitative importance of within‐Asia income inequality has increased substantially since 1950.