distribution theory

The study of how the national income of a country is allocated between different individuals and groups.

Distribution of income is comparatively even in Finland, with the lowest-earning 20% receiving 10.8% of all the after-tax income paid to individuals (c. 1990). In contrast, distribution of wealth is very uneven in the USA, with the richest 1% owning nearly 40% of the nation's wealth (1989) and the richest 20% owning more than 80%. The lowest-earning 20% receive only 5.7% of all after-tax income paid to individuals.

In the UK, in the early 1920s, the richest 1% of the population owned 59% of the nation's wealth. Redistribution of wealth especially in the 1940s and 1960s brought down this figure, though it began to rise again in the 1980s; in 1995 it was 18%.