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Using kernel density estimation we find that over the 1990s business cycles in the United States and Great Britain the entire distribution of after-tax (disposable) income moved to the right while inequality declined. In contrast, Germany and Japan experienced less growth, a rise in inequality, and a decline in the middle mass of their distributions, that spread mostly to the right, much like in the United States over its 1980s business cycle. Inequality fell within the older populations of all four countries; inequality also fell within the younger populations of the United States and Great Britain, but it rose substantially in Germany and Japan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses kernel density estimation to show how after-tax household size-adjusted income changed between the peak years of the 1990s business cycle in Germany, Great Britain, Japan, and the United States. Great Britain and the United States experienced substantial growth in average income, a decline in inequality, and a movement of their income distributions to the right. In contrast, Germany and Japan had less income growth, together with a rise in inequality and a decline in the middle mass of their distributions that spread mostly to the right, much like the United States experienced over its 1980s business cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]