Per capita Industry Income Disparities in the United States

Abstract

The results of this paper show that per capita income disparities rose in the U.S. in the last twenty years. We calculated per capita income by major components and industry sectors to account for the disparities. The Wage and Salary Disbursements and the Dividend, Interest, and Rental Income of Persons contribute to increased income disparities while the Transfer Income and Other Labor Income components ameliorate income disparities. These results, which are consistent with the findings that mushroomed recently in this area, also negate the so-called "inverted CT-shaped Kuznets' hypothesis0 which suggests deterioration in income disparities in the early stages of economic development and an eventual convergence in per capita incomes at higher stages.