The world distribution of income: evolution over the recent period and effects of population growth

We first update our 1983 work by extending the period of analysis up to 1986, thus including the most severe and long-lasting world economic crisis since the Second World War. Second, we investigate the relative roles of economic and demographic factors in explaining the evolution of the world income distribution. Unlike what might be expected, the adjustment process presently under way in many developing countries has not produced a further unambiguous increase in the inequality of world incomes, but neither has it led to any improvement. Concerning the role of demographic factors, we find that in accordance with the theory, they essentially have an ambiguous effect on the world distribution of income. These are the issues we consider here after a brief review of the methdology and data problems. -from Authors