Arm - en - rijk oftewel: leren - de dommekracht onder de inkomenslift*

Summary This address deals with factors contributing to the inequality of income, with particular reference to the Netherlands and to the U.S.A. Sections 2 and 3 survey the shape of the income distribution curve, and the (possible) impact of the length of the reference period and of capital income on income variance. Section 4 shows the modest contribution of intergroup (compared with intra-group) differences in (mean) income, after classification of income recipients by occupation, age and sex. Special attention is paid to estimation of schooling and intelligence effects in multivariate analysis. All systematic factors taken together appear to account for less than 1/3 of the total income variance, so that a major part of it is still unexplained; mainly entrepreneurial income seems to be responsible for it. Finally, possible changes in income distribution - autonomous or resulting from policy measures -are discussed summarily.