This book examines the income distributional experience of fifteen developed economies over the past two decades. It considers the effects on the inequality of household income of the development of individual earnings, unemployment, inflation, public sector transfers and taxes, and demographic changes. Chapters are devoted to the experiences of Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, West and former East Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Holland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

This book provides new analysis of inequality in China, with an emphasis on public policy considerations. Several chapters focus on inequality of income; others analyze poverty and inequality in wealth and wages. Topics covered include migrants, women, the elderly, the relationship between income and health funding, and the impact of the rural tax reform. A distinguishing feature of this book is its database. All contributors to the volume make use of a large, nationwide survey of Chinese households, which permits consistent survey analysis spanning nearly fifteen years of China's transition...