But the flatness of these countries’ income standard curves relative to that of Sweden and Hirkey indicates smaller changes in income dispersion. For example, the contrasting developments in inequality between Sweden and Hirkey and between Italy and Germany were driven by growth differences in both the upper and lower halves of the income distribution, that is, for both top and bottom sensitive income standards compared with the average. In the case of Belgium and the United States (Figure 2, Panel C), the broad divergence in inequality - a decline in the former country and a rise in the latter - was mainly driven by differential developments within the lower-half of the income distribution. The data show cumulative growth rates and refer to the period 1995-2009.