Written by a leading scholar in the field, this textbook provides a thorough introduction to the topic of income distribution and poverty, with additional emphasis on the issues of inequality and discrimination. This book features an empirical focus, and includes sections on basic statistics, as well as optional econometric studies and more advanced mathematical handling of inequality measurement. Utilizing data from various countries around the globe, including the US and Europe, this textbook is international in its scope and provides a comparative element that will aid students in their studies. Up-to-date and comprehensive in its coverage, this new edition supplies a self-contained course on income distribution and poverty.

Edward Wolff received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 1974 and is professor of economics at New York University, where he has taught since 1974, and a Senior Scholar at the Levy Economics Institute of Bard College. He is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research and a council member of the International Association for Research in Income and Wealth since 1987. He served as Managing Editor of the Review of Income and Wealth from 1987 to 2004 and was a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation in New York (2003-04), President of the Eastern Economics Association (2002-2003), and a council member of the International Input-Output Association (1995-2003), and has acted as a consultant with the Economic Policy Institute, the World Bank, the United Nations, the WIDER Institute, and Mathematica Policy Research. His principal research areas are productivity growth and income and wealth distribution. He is the author (or co-author) of 10 books, and the editor of 8. He is also the author of many articles published in books and professional journals and provides frequent commentary on radio and television