One of the most troubling developments of the past two decades has been the dramatic rise in inequality among nations and within nations. This book examines the nature of this development in a variety of countries and contexts - China, Russia, Australia, Latin America, Italy - where the rise of inequality has not been studied as intensively as the US or UK. It also presents analyses of some potential causes and consequences of the rise in inequality.

Takes a broad, comparative approach, covering West as well as the developing countries of the South

PART I: INTERNATIONAL PATTERNS AND ADVANCED COUNTRIES Wages Around the World: Pay Across Occupations and Countries; R.B.Freeman & R.H.Oostendorp Australian Responses to Increases in Unemployment and Wage Inequality: Comparisons with the UK, NZ and USA; R.G.Gregory Wage Indexation and the Evolution of Returns to Education in Italy. 1979-1992; M.Manacorda PART II: LESS ADVANCED COUNTRIES Markets, Human Capital, and Inequality: Evidence from Rural China; D.Benjamin, L.Brandt, P.Glewwe & G.Li Inequality in Latin America During the 1990s; M.Székely & M.Hilgert Inequality and Mortality During Russia's Economic Transition; E.Brainerd The Impact of Minimum Wages on Wage Inequality and Employment in the Formal and Informal Sector in Costa Rica; F.El-Hamidi & K.Terrell PART III: UNDERSTANDING MICRO-BEHAVIOUR AND THE BROAD ECONOMY OF INEQUALITY The Economics of Reciprocity: Evidence and Theory; A.Falk & U.Fischbacher Globalization and Redistribution: Feasible Egalitarianism in a Competitive World; S.Bowles Distributed Information and the Role of the State in the Economy; K.J.Arrow