People and their incomes in Norway, 1859-2013

Project details

Project manager

Rolf Aaberge

Partners

Tony Atkinson, Nuffield College, Oxford University; Daniel Waldenström, Uppsala universitet; Espen Søbye

Clients

Norwegian Research Council, FRIHUMSAM programme

Project term

1 January 2014 - 31 December 2017

Project status

Ongoing

Research field

• Income distribution
• Economic history

About the Project

The aim of this project is to study the Norwegian people and their incomes based on analysis of the available historic data, from the earliest tabulations of 1859 till detailed microdata in modern times. Over this period, Norwegian society went through dramatic changes. To get a better basis for describing and analysing the changes in the level and distribution of economic well-being in Norway we will rely on different sources such as income tabulations published by Statistics Norway, parliamentary reports and digitized individual census data. For the period from 1960 onwards, we will also use information from modern statistical registries. The compilation of data will in itself be an important contribution to research on the evolution of the income distribution over time. We will compare the development of income and income inequality to other countries such as Sweden, Denmark and the United Kingdom.

There are five sub-projects.

• First, we will develop and apply appropriate methods for analysing tabulated data.
• Second, we will explore how information on income dispersion can improve our understanding of the development of aggregate welfare.
• Third, we will study regional changes in incomes and income inequality.
• Fourth, we will collect data on and analyse the role of wealth and inheritance over time.
• Fifth, we will use historical micro data to study the development of social mobility over time.