Primary income data yields the most exact estimates of the Gini coefficient. Using Lorenz curves, the Gini coefficient is defined as the ratio of the area between the diagonal and the Lorenz curve and the area of the whole triangle under the diagonal. Various attempts have been made to obtain...

We study the inequality of disposable income in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden during the late 1980s and early 1990s when unemployment rose dramatically in all four countries. A standard measure of inequality - the Gini coefficient - was surprisingly stable in all countries during this...