Poverty, inequality and the distribution of income in the G20

Abstract

This paper follows Sala-i-Martin (2002) and estimates the distribution of income for the G20 countries for every year between 1970 and 1998. Two important aspects of the distribution are then analyzed: the poverty rates (the fraction of the G20 that earn incomes of less than 1 dollar and less than 2 dollars a day) and various measures of inequality. By all counts, the G20 have performed very well over the last three decades