Distribution of Consumption Expenditure in East Asia

Jirasavetakul, La-Bhus Fah ; Lakner, Christoph

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: inequality;    global inequality;    expenditure distribution;    household surveys;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-7968
RP-ID  :  WPS7968

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Using a new database of householdsurveys, this paper examines inequality among allindividuals living in developing East Asia regardless oftheir country of residence. The East Asian Gini indexincreased from 39.0 in 1988 to 43.3 in 2012. Inequalityincreased during the initial decade, regardless of thechoice of inequality measure. The trend appears to havereversed in the mid-2000s. Regional inequality is now almostentirely explained by within-country differences, while gapsin average income across countries have become unimportant.This reversal has been driven by rising national inequalityespecially in populous countries, counteracted by catch-upgrowth in average incomes, particularly in China.Interpersonal differences in income at the regional levelhave thus become internalized within national boundaries.