Evolution of global inequality in well-being: A copula-based approach

We employ a flexible parametric model to estimate global income, health, and education distributions from 1980 to 2015. Using these marginal distributions within a copula-based framework, we construct a global joint distribution of well-being. This approach allows us to specifically analyze the impact of dependency structures on global well-being inequality. While inequality decreased in each individual dimension, our findings suggest that multidimensional inequality does not necessarily follow this trend. Its evolution is influenced by the interdependence among dimensions and the chosen inequality aversion parameter.