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Income Level and Income Inequality in the Euro‐Mediterranean Region, C. 14–700
Author(s) -
Milanovic Branko
Publication year - 2019
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.12329
Subject(s) - economics , inequality , successor cardinal , empire , economic inequality , european union , personal income , homogeneous , mediterranean climate , distribution (mathematics) , income distribution , demographic economics , development economics , macroeconomics , geography , international economics , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , archaeology , thermodynamics
Was the Euro‐Mediterranean region at the time of the Roman Empire and its Western successor states more unequal than the European Union today? We use some scant evidence on personal income distribution within the Empire and differences in average regional incomes to conclude that the Empire was more homogeneous, in terms of regional incomes, than today's EU, and inter‐personal inequality was low. Moreover, income inequality was likely less around year 700 than in Augustus's time. The latter finding contrasts with a view of rising inequality as the Western Roman Empire dissolved.