This paper was originally presented a the Fourth International Research Seminar of the Foundation for International Studies on Social Security (FISS) in June 1997 in Sigtuna, Sweden. In the United States, several public policy initiatives have been undertaken to encourage more work and later...

Direct provision of public services can alter the balance of resources across income groups. We focus on the issues arising when taking account of the impact of publicly provided education services across the income distribution. We combine OECD information on spending per student in particular...

In this paper, we take the opportunity to examine wealth portfolios for the middle class and for various corresponding socio-economic groups. We identify the rich, at the top of the income distribution, the middle class (middle 80 percent) and the poor (bottom 20 percent). We examine several...

Empirical studies of inequality and poverty are usually based on disposable cash incomes, disregarding incomes in-kind (non-cash incomes). Since individuals also derive utility from the consumption of goods and services provided in-kind monetary income is not always a good indicator of an...

Using two period comparisons of six wealthy nations, the authors look at the extent of inequality at three levels of income: earned income, market income, and after tax and transfer disposable income. Interesting implications of the results are discussed.

Compares the ability of prime-age, able-bodied workers in the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Netherlands, and the U.K. to keep themselves and their households out of poverty by working. The authors find that although the probability of being poor is smaller in households in which the head works...

German and US LIS data are used to compare the relative economic well-being of Germans and Americans in the 1980s. Both official and consumption-based country specific equivalence scales are used.

This paper summarizes the highlights and implications of the forthcoming OECD project report entitled 'Income Distribution in OECD Countries: The Evidence from the Luxembourg Income Study.'

This paper summarizes the recent literature on income distribution in European nations drawing on some of the material used in the OECD project report (see above) and additional new material.

Cross-national comparisons of earnings inequality can be misleading when unemployment rates and rate of female labor force participation differ across countries. This is because such comparisons implicitly place zero values on underutilized labor market activity and domestic labor. This paper...