Data for: Growth still is good for the poor

Abstract of associated article: Average incomes in the poorest two quintiles on average increase at the same rate as overall average incomes. This is because, in a global dataset spanning 121 countries over the past four decades, changes in the share of income of the poorest quintiles are uncorrelated with changes in average income. The variation in changes in quintile shares is also small relative to the variation in growth in average incomes, implying that the latter accounts for most of the variation in income growth in the poorest quintiles. In addition, we find little evidence that changes in the bottom quintile shares are correlated with country-level factors that are typically considered as important determinants for growth in average incomes or for changes in inequality. This evidence confirms the central importance of economic growth for improvements in living standards at the low end of the income distribution. It also illustrates the difficulty of identifying specific macroeconomic policies that are significantly associated with the growth rates of those in the poorest quintiles relative to everyone else.相关论文摘要：全球收入分布最底端的两个五等分组（quintile）的平均收入增速，与整体平均收入增速基本持平。究其原因，在覆盖过去四十年、涵盖121个国家的全球数据集内，最贫困五等分组的收入占比变化与平均收入变化不存在相关性。相较于平均收入增速的波动幅度，各五等分组收入占比的变化幅度同样较小，这意味着平均收入增速是最贫困五等分组收入增长波动的主要来源。此外，我们几乎未找到证据表明，最贫困五等分组的收入占比变化，与通常被视作影响整体平均收入增长或不平等变化的关键国家层面因素存在关联。该研究结论证实了经济增长对于改善低收入群体生活水平的核心重要性，同时也凸显出，要识别出能显著提升最贫困群体相对整体收入增速的特定宏观经济政策，颇具挑战。