The International Distribution of Income, 1949 and 1957

Abstract

The distribution of per capita income among 62 countries has not only become more unequal between 1949 and 1957, but is also more unequal if compared with the distribution of incomes within the countries concerned. The degree of inequality is measured by the concentration ratio and the distributions are represented by Lorenz curves. Another way of illustrating this change is to compare the rate of growth in per capita incomes in the 62 countries with the overall average rate of growth. It is found that in lessdeveloped countries, notably India, weighing very heavily in our selection of countries, the rate of growth has been slower than the overall average.

The Worldwide Income Distribution: Some Speculative Calculations*

“…This pessimism may be warranted, but given the current international climate some form of guess at the worldwide income distribution does not, at least to the author, seem wholly out of place provided that sufficient warnings of data deficiencies are given en route. 2 This paper therefore seeks to determine some possible implications of recent international data compilations for overall worldwide inequality in the income *I am grateful to Shail Jain of the World Bank for permission to use an unpublished version of a compilation of data on size distributions of income by country, and to Cathy Board for help with the calculations reported here. Lars Osberg has provided helpful comments on an earlier draft, as have unnamed referees.…”