Anatomy of the Distribution of Urban Income: A Tale of Two Cities in Colombia

摘要

The paper suggests an approach for analysis of distributional and other change in incomes in fast growing cities in the developing world. It notes that between 1973 and 1978 there appeared to be a tendency toward some improvement in the distribution of income in the two Colombian cities of Bogota and Cali. However, the level of inequality in the two cities remained very high, possible among the highest in the world. Among the distinguishing features of this study is the utilization of primary data from different household surveys, of comparable quality spread over six years. Hence there is a high degree of confidence in the results obtained. The paper uses different samples, inequality indices, income concepts and ranking procedures in its analysis. It is found that, overall, there is a higher level of inequality in Bogota than in Cali. (Copyright (c) The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, 1984.)