The Journal of Economic Inequality

, Volume 13, Issue 4, pp 603–628 | Cite as

PovcalNet, WDI and ‘All the Ginis’: a critical review

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Abstract

In this paper, we review three data sets which summarize world-wide inequality across countries and years: World Development Indicators (‘WDI’)/‘PovcalNet’ and ‘All the Ginis’ (ATG), each of which has some origins at the World Bank. We hope to inform both experienced and novice users of the existence of these important data sets, provide a review of their benefits and drawbacks, suggest how to use them, and provide suggestions for future improvements. The review is grounded in the history of the development of such data sets, which also necessarily informs users of critical information and the types of choices one must make in order to understand how to measure and compare poverty and inequality over space and time.

Keywords

Trends in inequality Purchasing power parity Expenditure Consumption Income Survey Top incomes 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2015

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.La Follette School of Public AffairsUniversity of Wisconsin–MadisonMadisonUSA
  2. 2.Department of SociologyUniversity of Wisconsin–MadisonMadisonUSA

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