Join the network
Blog
Detecting global income inequality trends: And why it matters
More accurate estimates of inequality trends allow us to measure progress towards achieving reductions in inequality within and between countries...
59 UNU-WIDER articles, publications, projects, experts...
Filter by...
Reset all
Working Paper
Trends in global inequality using a new integrated datasetThis paper presents preliminary evidence of the annual global income distribution since 1950 using a new integrated dataset that aggregates standardized country income distributions at the percentile level estimated from various sources in the World...
Blog
The WIID celebrates 20 years with a daring new plan
After 20 years of contributions to income inequality research, the World Income Inequality Database (the WIID) is getting a new expansion that will...
Blog
The global distribution of routine and non-routine work – and why we should we care about itThe nature of work is changing due to technological progress, globalization, and the rapidly expanding supply of college-educated workers. At a global...
Blog
35 years of research for change: Bringing inequality to the fore (1998-2020)
UNU-WIDER released the world’s first estimates of the global wealth distribution in 2007 – one result of a 2004–05 project, ‘Personal Assets from a...
Journal Article
A proposal for a new universal development commitmentMost developed countries have accepted, in principle at least, the 50‐year‐old commitment of contributing 0.7 per cent of gross national income to supporting the development of developing countries. But what if all countries made a universal...
Blog
Inequality: Driving forces and policy solutionsThe many faces of inequality Measuring inequality isn’t as simple as it may seem. We know that since the 1970s global inequality has been falling in...
Blog
Measuring inequality in middle-income countriesIncome inequality is the result of complex processes with multiple interacting driving forces but understanding those drivers in emerging economies is...
Policy Brief
Is global inequality rising or falling?When measured in relative terms, global inequality has been decreasing. However, in absolute terms it has been increasing. What does this mean for analysing and addressing inequality? While it remains vital to continue reducing the global incidence...
Book Chapter
Adverse Specialization and Divergence, 1820–1950Part of Book Knowledge and Global Inequality Since 1800
Book Chapter
Limited Convergence, 1950 to the PresentPart of Book Knowledge and Global Inequality Since 1800
Book Chapter
Conclusion: Reforming the Knowledge EconomyPart of Book Knowledge and Global Inequality Since 1800
Journal Article
Revisiting the trends in global inequalityThe study analyses trends in global income distribution since 1950 using a new companion WIID dataset with standardized country income percentiles. It investigate the robustness of these trends with respect to key data choices, as well as the degree...
Working Paper
What might explain today’s conflicting narratives on global inequality?How unequal is the world today? Is global income inequality falling, as many economists claim, or is it rising, as one often hears? This paper reviews the arguments and evidence. A number of concerns about the underlying data are identified, with...
Working Paper
How polarized is the global income distribution?The interest in the level of global inequality has surged in recent years. This paper complements existing estimates of global inequality by providing the first estimates of the level of bipolarization of the global income distribution. During 1975...
Journal Article
How polarized is the global income distribution?The interest in the level of global inequality has surged in recent years. This paper complements existing estimates of global inequality by providing the first estimates of the level of bipolarization of the global income distribution. During 1975...
Blog
In the Director's chair: Reflections on my first six months as Director
My first six months as Director of UNU-WIDER have been busy, enlightening, and rewarding. We’ve launched a new work programme, with flagship projects...
Book Chapter
What might explain today’s conflicting narratives on global inequality?Part of Book Inequality in the Developing World
Working Paper
A proposal for a new universal development commitmentMost Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development countries have accepted, in principle at least, the 50-year-old commitment of contributing 0.7 per cent of gross national income to supporting the development of countries in the Global...
Blog
Sunshine, elephants, and boomerangs: Is a dramatic rise in global income inequality looming?Global Inequality 101: Global inequality is the distribution of income across all people on the planet from the poorest to the richest. It can be...
Blog
Report from the WIDER Development Conference on reducing inequality
For several decades, UNU-WIDER has actively worked on pathfinding and groundbreaking research on inequalities. We host one of the most extensive...
Blog
Reducing inequality — the great challenge of our time
Early in October 2022, international and Colombian researchers gathered together for three days at the UNIANDES campus, located at the foot of the...
Blog
Interview with Carlos Gradín on global inequality for the Conversation Weekly podcast
The following is an excerpt: mRNA vaccines, asteroid missions and collaborative robots: what to watch in science in 2022 – podcast Daniel Merino, The...
Working Paper
The global inequality boomerangThis paper focuses on the past and potential future evolution of income (or consumption) inequality in the world over the period 1981–2040. Inequality in the world has fallen by most common definitions since the late 1980s, and this is largely due to...
Blog
Reducing inequality — why working together is no longer just an optionThe time limit to reach the goals of the 2030 Agenda is now just eight years away. It is vital to pursue a new model of partnerships, based on...
Blog
Are knowledge monopolies driving global inequality?
In a new release for the UNU-WIDER and Cambridge University Press Elements in Development Economics series, I look at global capitalist economic...
Book
Knowledge and Global Inequality Since 1800This study highlights the monopolization and exclusion from high-value knowledge in analysing divergent and, recently, partially convergent income trends across 200-odd years of the global capitalist economy. A southern lens interrogates this history...
Blog
How to get back on track to ending poverty – the imperative for a livable planet
We are off track to end poverty. Despite remarkable progress over the past few decades, the goal of eradicating poverty remains elusive, and SDG1: End...
Journal Article
Is the era of declining global income inequality over?This study examines the trajectory of global income inequality since 1981. Commonly used (relative) definitions indicate a decline in global inequality since the late 1980s. Looking ahead, it has been intuited that the influence of China's economic...
Blog
Responding to crises: What can we do? What’s next?
Although sometimes over used, the word 'crisis' accurately describes many challenges of today's world, such as climage change, war and refugees...
Blog
Are China and India highly unequal countries?‘The Number of Countries with High Inequality’ is the World Bank’s newest inequality indicator, one which it says will guide work on its agenda to...
Displaying 59 of 59 results