Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction, the dual gaps : an overview of theory and research / Mitchell A. Seligson -- Is there a gap between rich and poor countries? -- Characteristics of the income gap between countries : 1960-2010 / John Passé-Smith -- The rising inequality of world income distribution / Robert Hunter Wade -- Empirics of world income inequality / Glenn Firebaugh -- Assessing contending measures of the gap / John T PasséSmith -- The economic lives of the poor / Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo -- The historical origins of the gap -- The world economy: a millennial perspective / Angus Maddison -- Why did human history unfold differently on different continents? / Jared Diamond -- Institutions rule : the primacy of institutions over geography and integration in economic development / Dani Rodrik, Arvind Subramarian, and Francesco Trebbi -- The colonial origins of comparative development / Daren Acemoglu, Simon Johnson, and James Robinson -- Macroeconomic narratives from africa and the diaspora : institutions versus policies: a tale of two islands / Peter Blair Henry and Conrad Miller -- The other gap : domestic income inequality -- Economic growth and income inequality / Simon Kuznets -- Inequality and insurgency / Edward N. Muller and Mitchell A. Seligson -- Global inequality : beyond the bottom billion / Isabel Ortiz and Matthew Cummins -- "Equality and efficiency : is there a tradeoff between the two or do they go hand in hand?" / Andrew Berg and Jonathan Ostry -- "Do poorer countries have less capacity for redistribution?" / Martin Ravillion -- The classical thesis : convergence or divergence? -- The five stages of growth / W.W. Rostow -- Productivity growth, convergence, and welfare : what the longrun data show / William J. Baumol -- Productivity growth, convergence, and welfare : comment / J Bradford DeLong -- Culture and underdevelopment -- The achievement motive in economic growth / David C. McClelland -- Underdevelopment is a state of mind / Lawrence E. Harrison -- The effect of cultural values on economic development : theory, hypotheses, and some empirical tests / Jim Granato, Ronald Inglehart, and David Leblang -- Dependency and world systems theory : still relevant? -- The development of underdevelopment / Andre Gunder Frank -- American penetration and canadian development : a case study of mature dependency / HeatherJo Hammer and John W. Gartrell -- New paths : globalization in a historical perspective / by Fernando Henrique Cardoso -- The role of institutions -- Big bills left on the sidewalk : why some nations are rich and others poor / Mancur Olson, Jr -- Urban bias and inequality / Michael Lipton -- Political regimes and economic growth / Adam Przeworski and Fernando Limongi -- Inequality as a constraint on growth in latin america / Nancy Birdsall and Richard Sabot -- What makes countries rich or poor? / Jared Diamond -- Natural resources, climate change, and the gap -- "Commodity prices, growth, and the natural resource curse" / Paul Collier and Benedikt Goderis -- "Parasite prevalence and the worldwide distribution of cognitive ability" / Christopher Eppig, Corey Fincher, and Randy Thornhill -- "Climate change and economic growth : evidence from the last half century" / Melissa Dell, Benjamin Jones, and Benjamin Olken -- Conclusion -- Inequality in a global perspective : directions for further research / Mitchell A. Seligson.