ABSTRACT
In Part I we reviewed the statistical approach to the study of income distribution in both its descriptive and analytical roles. As a descriptive method, this approach has made a useful contribution by summarizing a large body of information and by bringing out certain interesting patterns in the distribution of income in different countries and its variation over time. However, it has been less successful in explaining these patterns. The statistical approach to explaining these patterns has followed three main lines: (i) treating the variations of individual incomes primarily as random phenomena subject to probabilistic laws; (ii) the explanation in terms of purely statistical regularities observed in historical experience or international cross-section data; or (iii) the explanation in terms of the statistical relationships between aspects of income distribution and such macro-economic variables as the per capita income of countries.
