This paper presents a methodology for comparing income rank volatility profiles over time and across distributions …

arbitrary deÖnition such as income quartiles or the poverty line. Recently, Foster and Wolfson developed a methodology which … lacks of arbitrariness that enables us to compare the middle class of two di§erent income distributions. We apply this new … tool jointly with a complementary method ñrelative distribution approach- to household income data in 1994-2004 and 2004 …

Some approaches to measuring the middle class are based on an arbitrary definition such as income quartiles or the … during the 1994-2004 and 2004-2010 periods. During the first period, characterized by increasing income inequality, the … middle class declines and income polarization increases. In the second period, which includes the recovery from the 2002 …

evidence that Federalism is a strong predictor of greater income inequality in developing economies. It is also a strong … appears to be a leap from the frying pan into the fire of even greater income inequality and poverty incidence. …