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Cambridge Journal of Economics Advance Access originally published online on June 12, 2006
Cambridge Journal of Economics 2009 33(3):381-404; doi:10.1093/cje/bel013
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Cambridge Political Economy Society. All rights reserved.

This article appears in the following Cambridge Journal of Economics issue: Special focus: The intellectual legacy of Brian Reddaway [View the issue table of contents]

On data: a case study of the evolution of income inequality across time and across countries

A. B. Atkinson and A. Brandolini*

* Nuffield College, Oxford, and Bank of Italy, Economic Research Department, respectively

Address for correspondence: A. B. Atkinson, Nuffield College, Oxford, UK; email: tony.atkinson{at}nuffield.oxford.ac.uk

This paper takes income distribution as a case study of the role of data in economics. After describing the transformation which has taken place with regard to the availability of data on income inequality, it discusses how the comparability of these estimates is brought into question by differences in methodology that cannot be eliminated by simple adjustments. Recent analyses of the relationships between income inequality and growth or globalisation are shown to be based on time series plagued by discontinuities which can seriously affect regression results. The paper concludes by calling for greater attention to data quality in applied economics.

Key Words: Data quality • Measurement bias • Income distribution • Growth • Globalisation

JEL classifications: D31, C8

Manuscript received June 27, 2005; final version received January 3, 2006.


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