Measuring inter-national differences in income: a distributional approach

Author: Oliver F. R.   Read K. L. Q.  

Publisher: Routledge Ltd

ISSN: 1466-4291

Source: Applied Economics Letters, Vol.2, Iss.7, 1995-07, pp. : 239-243

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Abstract

Statistics of per capita Gross Domestic Product for 178 countries for each of the years between 1970 and 1989 are analysed in order to measure inter-national inequalities and to assess the success of aid from the world's richer economies in reducing them. Conventional statistics of inequality, whether based on moments or on quantiles, show unsatisfactory irregularities. However, two statistical distributions are found which describe the data closely and enable convenient and relatively stable measures of inequality to be obtained. The results show that so far from decreasing, these measures of inter-national inequality approximately trebled during the period 1970-89.