Income Inequality and Transformation of the Welfare State: A Comparative Study of the Reforms in New Zealand and Sweden

The purpose of this paper is to analyse income inequality trends in New Zealand and Sweden from 1983 to 1997, a period when both New Zealand and Sweden implemented economic reforms that transformed their respective welfare systems. The results do not suggest that the more extensive reform programme in New Zealand was associated with a relatively larger increase in income inequality. Moreover, the level of social welfare of New Zealanders increased slightly after the implementation of the reform programme, while no similar evidence is apparent in the Swedish income data.