The paper surveys the studies on the cyclical behaviour of real wages published from the twenties onwards. The traditional simple neoclassical model of the labour market suggests that real wages tend to move countercyclically. However, from a theoretical viewpoint, there are few reasons to...

This paper takes income distribution as a case study of the role of data in economics. After describing the transformation which has taken place with regard to the availability of data on income inequality, it discusses how the comparability of these estimates is brought into question by...

Secondary data-set have come to play an increasing role in empirical economic research. This paper examines the major new secondary data-set assembled by Klaus Deininger and Lyn Squire and the World Bank. We concentrate on its coverage of the OECD countries. We have particularly in mind the user...

The paper describes the sample surveys on the personal distribution of incomes conducted in post-war Italy: the first survey carried out by Istituto Doxa in 1947-48; the sample survey of household income and wealth conducted by the Bank of Italy since the late 1960s; the expenditure survey, and...