THE WORLDWIDE INCOME DISTRIBUTION: SOME SPECULATIVE CALCULATIONS*

John Whallye

Review of Income and Wealth, 1979, vol. 25, issue 3, 261-267

Abstract: This paper uses a variety of assumptions to produce calculations of worldwide income distributions from recent international data compilations. The variable quality of the source materials in these compilations along with the arbitrariness in the assumptions required are emphasized. A number of working hypotheses for the worldwide income distribution are offered until data and methods improve. It is suggested the top 1 percent of world population may receive 10–15 percent of world income, the top 10 percent from 45–65 percent, and the bottom 20 percent from 1–4 percent. These figures seem more unequal than those for domestic distributions even for more inegalitarian countries.

Date: 1979
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https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4991.1979.tb00099.x

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