The decomposition of income inequality by sources of income: the rural Nigerian experience

Abstract

The study examines income inequality by sources of income in Nigeria. A standard Gini decomposition method was applied on a nationally representative data to examine the differential impact of various types of income sources - including non-farm income - on inequality in rural Nigeria. The results revealed that agriculture accounts for the largest share of the total inequality, followed by wage income sources and self-employment contributes the least. It is evident that agriculture is inequality increasing, while wage and household self employments are inequality decreasing. African Journal of Economic Policy Vol. 11(1) 2004: 1-16