Piketty's rg implies an increase in capital-output ratio and in the share of capital income in net output. But it still does not guarantee the increase in personal income inequality. We derive the conditions for the "pass-through" of the rise in the share of capital income to greater personal...

The US has exceptionally high inequality of disposable household income (i.e., income after accounting for taxes and transfers). Among working-age households (those with no persons over age 60), that high level of inequality is caused by a high level of market income inequality (i.e., income...

This paper, using for the first time household survey data from 26 post-communist countries, covering the period 1990-2005, examines correlates of unprecedented increases in inequality registered by most of these economies. We find that, after controlling for country-fixed effects and type of...

Using the newly created, and in terms of coverage and detail, the most complete household income data from more than 130 countries, the paper analyzes the changes in the global income distribution between 2008 and 2013. This was the period of the global financial crisis and recovery. It is shown...

The standard formulae used to calculate poverty gaps are incorrect when the poverty analysis is conducted in terms of equivalent units (rather than in per capita terms). An exact calculation requires access to individual level data. If this is unavailable, the paper proposes an approximation.

New data derived directly from household surveys are used to examine the effects of globalization on income distribution in poor and rich countries. The article looks at the impact of openness (proxied by the ratio of trade to gdp) and of direct foreign investment on relative income shares...

The relationship between the distribution of political rights and that of economic resources has been studied both theoretically and empirically. This paper reviews the existing literature and, in particular, the available empirical evidence.Our reading of the literature suggests that formal...

While standard political economy theories suggest a moderating effect of democratization on income inequality, empirical literature has failed to uncover any such robust relationship. Here we take yet another look at this issue arguing first, that prevailing ideology may be an important...