This paper aims to throw light on the development of top incomes in Sweden as well as the causes for change. Using household income data we show that since the first half of the 1980s real income at the top of the distribution has developed more favourably than for other groups. This contrasts...

Harmonised microdata show a Gini coefficient for per capita total income of 45.3% in China (2002) and 33.6% in Russia (2003). A much larger urban to rural income gap in combination with a much smaller proportion of people living in urban areas in China are important reasons for this...