The new geography of global income inequality / Glenn Firebaugh.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Firebaugh, Glenn.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Income distribution.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (272 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 2003.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

The surprising finding of this book is that, contrary to conventional wisdom, global income inequality is decreasing. Critics of globalization and others maintain that the spread of consumer capitalism is dramatically polarizing the worldwide distribution of income. But as the demographer Glenn Firebaugh carefully shows, income inequality for the world peaked in the late twentieth century and is now heading downward because of declining income inequality across nations. Furthermore, as income inequality declines across nations, it is rising within nations (though not as rapidly as it is declining across nations). Firebaugh claims that this historic transition represents a new geography of global income inequality in the twenty-first century. This book documents the new geography, describes its causes, and explains why other analysts have missed one of the defining features of our era—a transition in inequality that is reducing the importance of where a person is born in determining his or her future well-being.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Part I. The New Geography Hypothesis

Chapter 1. Massive Global Income Inequality: When Did It Arise and Why Does It Matter?

Chapter 2. The Reversal of Historical Inequality Trends

Part II. Measurement

Chapter 3. How Is National Income Measured, and Can We Trust the Data?

Chapter 4. Inequality: What It Is and How It Is Measured

Part III. Evidence

Chapter 5. What We Already Know

Chapter 6. Income Inequality across Nations in the Late Twentieth Century

Chapter 7. Weighted versus Unweighted Inequality: Key to the Divergence Debate

Chapter 8. Continental Divides: Asia, Africa, and the Reversal of the Trend

Chapter 9. Change in Income Inequality within Nations

Part IV. Explanations and Predictions

Chapter 10. Causes of the Inequality Transition

Chapter 11. The Future of Global Income Inequality

Epilogue: Does Rising Income Bring Greater Happiness ?

Notes

References

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references (p. [237]-249) and index.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

0-674-03689-1

OCLC:

654617662