This thesis contains two studies. The first study investigates the income distribution among
Namibian households. The second study examines the differences in earnings between males
and females in the Namibian labour market. In both studies we use the 1993/1994 Namibia
Household Income and Expenditure Survey.
The aim of the first study is to investigate what socio-economic variables that affect the
Namibian income distribution. To measure this we use the Gini coefficient. To investigate the
extent to which total income inequality is due to within-group inequality or between-group
inequality we use both Theil’s (1967) entropy index T and Theil’s second measure L. Income
inequality is much more pronounced in the Central/southern region than in the North/northeast
region. The within-group inequality seems to be the principal determinant of total
inequality. Education and main source of income are important variables in determining
degrees of between-group inequality. We find that Namibia still suffers from a skewed
income distribution.