By marrying a "top-down" national income-based approach with a "bottom-up"
microdata approach, and a national income accounting perspective with a the
oretical perspective, this article attempts to provide a unified framework
for aggregating income types to create an income definition that enables re
searchers to make valid comparisons across nations. An examination of sever
al national household income surveys shows that it is next to impossible to
quantify all elements of any new definition in a way that makes internatio
nal comparisons easy. The framework nonetheless illuminates the differences
in current practice and allows researchers to assess the effect of those d
ifferences on income distribution measures.