The factors underlying the rise in U.S. income inequality since the mid-1970s are examined. The results suggest that the trend increase in income inequality has not been related to macroeconomic developments, such as income growth or import penetration, but that the income distribution is sensitive to the cycle. Important factors that do help explain the widening of the income distribution include the increased investment in technology and the decline in the minimum wage. The rise in the share of single female-headed households, the increased proportion of households headed by someone over the age of 35, and the fall in the child-dependency ratio also help explain movements in income shares.

The factors underlying the rise in U.S. income inequality since the mid-1970s are examined. The results suggest that the trend increase in income inequality has not been related to macroeconomic developments, such as income growth or import penetration, but that the income distribution is sensitive to the cycle. Important factors that do help explain the widening of the income distribution include the increased investment in technology and the decline in the minimum wage. The rise in the share of single female-headed households, the increased proportion of households headed by someone over the age of 35, and the fall in the child-dependency ratio also help explain movements in income shares.

There have been dramatic changes in the distribution of earnings and income in the United States during recent years. This volume presents original papers, contributed by eminent economists, on the measurement and causes of growing income inequality in the U.S. and other major industrialized countries. The first part examines the definition of income, decomposition of earnings into capacity and capacity utilization rates, and alternative methodologies for estimating income and earnings dispersion. The second part investigates theoretically or empirically alternative causes of income inequality: international trade, macroeconomic conditions and policies, technological progress, productivity growth, institutions, demographic labor supply, and sectoral labor demand. In the final part of the volume policy implications and recommendations are discussed. The volume will be valuable for academic departments (economics, political science, sociology); economic policy institutes and Federal Reserve Bank research departments; economists in government.

'Income Distribution' was written primarily as a textbook intended for undergraduate economics majors. Each chapter is logically connected with the preceding chapters, providing a general overview of income distribution and its applications.