Convergence of income distributions: Total and inequality-affecting changes in the EU

Abstract

By adapting the statistical framework suggested by Székely and Rizzo (2004) and considering the convergence of income distributions instead of aggregate (e.g., average) income, we exploit the scale-independence property of proper inequality metrics to evaluate not only the total but also the inequality-affecting (shape-influenced) convergence of income distributions. We illustrate the application using Monte Carlo experiments and characterizing the convergence of net equivalized income distributions among European Union member states.