Score contribution per author:
α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count
This paper examines income inequality in the Untied States over the period 1967-86 using recently developed tests for differences in Lorenz curves. The authors are able to rank eighteen of nineteen annual comparisons. In contrast, standard techniques are able to rank only twelve. These results suggest that the Lorenz dominance principle is more empirically relevant than previously thought. The tests reveal a sharp rise in U.S. inequality between 1978 and 1982, as well as a shift toward greater inequality over the entire period. The authors also examine changes in economic welfare using the joint mean-Lorenz dominance principle. Copyright 1991 by MIT Press.