Income Decile Dispersion Ratios for Global Poverty Analysis

Decile dispersion ratios measure income inequality by comparing the average income of the richest 10% of a population to the poorest 10%. The dataset is produced by the LAC Equity Lab, part of the World Bank. It provides a focused metric for analyzing the extremes of income distribution across different economies.

Use Cases

• Analyze trends in the 'decile dispersion ratio' over time to assess changes in extreme income inequality within countries.
• Compare the 'ratio of the average income of the richest 10 percent' across different countries or regions to benchmark inequality levels.
• Correlate the 'income of the top quantile' with other macroeconomic indicators like GDP growth or poverty rates.
• Model the relationship between the 'poorest 10 percent' income multiple and social outcome metrics such as health or education access.

Strengths

• Provides a specific, standardized metric ('decile dispersion ratio') for cross-country comparison.
• Derived from World Bank-affiliated sources like the LAC Equity Lab, ensuring methodological consistency.

Limitations

• The ratio 'ignores information about incomes in the middle of the income distribution', offering a limited view of overall inequality.
• It 'doesn’t use information about the distribution of income within the top and bottom deciles', masking intra-group disparities.
• Sample size, temporal coverage, and geographic scope are unspecified, limiting initial assessment of dataset breadth.

Provenance

Source

LAC Equity Lab, part of the World Bank.

Collection Method

Calculated from household survey or income distribution data to compute the ratio of average incomes for the top and bottom deciles.

Geography

Likely covers countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region, with potential for broader global coverage.