Inequality Patterns in Western-Type Democracies: Cross-Country Differences and Time Changes

The multidimensional view of human well-being has a growing influence on research on inequality and poverty. This development owes much to the conceptualisation of the “capability approach” by Sen (1985, 1987), but the shift has not been confined to academic circles and has extended to policy-oriented analysis. The United Nations Development Programme has challenged since 1990 the primacy of GDP per capita as the measure of progress by proposing the Human Development Index (HDI), which combines income with life expectancy and educational achievement (e.g. UNDP, 2005). The World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty opened with the statement that: “This report accepts the now traditional view of poverty...