Some analysts use sequential dominance criteria, and others use equivalence scales in combination with non-sequential dominance tests, to make welfare comparisons of joint distributions of income and needs. In this paper we present a new sequential procedure which copes with situations in which...

Income taxation typically has an inequality-reducing impact. This would be explained by theory were it the case that all income units were taxed according to a common progressive schedule. But this is not so; we lack a theoretical explanation for the observed finding. This paper explains how...

This paper uses Luxembourg Income Study data to examine levels of and trends in income inequality in Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Inequality increased in Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States but did not increase in Canada and the...