Inequality Convergence

Ravallion, Martin

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: ANNUALIZED CHANGE;    ARITHMETIC PROGRESSIONS;    AVERAGE GROWTH;    AVERAGE INCOMES;    AVERAGE PROCESS;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-2645
RP-ID  :  WPS2645

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

Comparing changes in inequality withinitial levels, using new data, the author finds thatwithin-country inequality in income or per capitaconsumption is converging toward medium levels--a Gini indexaround 40 percent. The finding is robust to allow forserially independent measurement error in inequality dataand for short-run dynamics around longer-term trends.However, the convergence process is neither rapid norcertain, and more observations over time are needed to beconfident of the pattern. The author offers an approach tomodeling the determinants of inequality that may be astarting point for estimating richer models.