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Measuring inequality from top to bottom

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  • Diaz Bazan,Tania Valeria
Abstract
This paper presents a new methodology to measure inequality that optimally combines household survey information and tax records to construct a complete income distribution. Combining the two data sources is necessary because, on the one hand, household surveys do not accurately represent the wealthiest segment of the population, while tax records do; on the other hand, the opposite is true for the lower end of the income distribution: tax records only include incomes above a certain threshold. The key innovation of the proposed methodology?and the main difference from the existing literature?is the choice of an optimal income threshold b. The Gini coefficient for the population is then computed combining the conditional income distributions for incomes below b (using household survey data) and above b (using tax records). Central to this methodology is the fact that b is not chosen arbitrarily: it should be determined in such a way as to minimize reliance on household survey data to compute the top of the income distribution. In practice, the optimal b corresponds to the minimum income level that triggers mandatory tax filing. The proposed methodology is applied to the case of Colombia.

Suggested Citation

  • Diaz Bazan,Tania Valeria, 2015. "Measuring inequality from top to bottom," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7237, The World Bank.
    • Handle: RePEc:wbk:wbrwps:7237
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Richard Burkhauser & Shuaizhang Feng & Stephen Jenkins & Jeff Larrimore, 2009. "Recent Trends in Top Income Shares in the USA: Reconciling Estimates from March CPS and IRS Tax Return Data," Working Papers 09-26, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Anthony Atkinson & Thomas Piketty, 2007. "Top incomes over the twentieth century: A contrast between continental european and english-speaking countries," Post-Print halshs-00754859, HAL.
    3. Alvaredo, Facundo, 2011. "A note on the relationship between top income shares and the Gini coefficient," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 110(3), pages 274-277, March.
    4. Atkinson, A. B. & Piketty, Thomas (ed.), 2007. "Top Incomes Over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast Between Continental European and English-Speaking Countries," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199286881.
    5. Dagum, Camilo, 1997. "A New Approach to the Decomposition of the Gini Income Inequality Ratio," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 22(4), pages 515-531.
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    Cited by:

    1. Janina Hundenborn & Ingrid Woolard & Jon Jellema, 2019. "The effect of top incomes on inequality in South Africa," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 26(5), pages 1018-1047, October.
    2. Stephen P. Jenkins, 2017. "Pareto Models, Top Incomes and Recent Trends in UK Income Inequality," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 84(334), pages 261-289, April.
    3. Thomas Blanchet & Ignacio Flores & Marc Morgan, 2022. "The weight of the rich: improving surveys using tax data," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(1), pages 119-150, March.
    4. von Fintel, Dieter & Orthofer, Anna, 2020. "Wealth inequality and financial inclusion: Evidence from South African tax and survey records," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 568-578.
    5. Nora Lustig, 2019. "The “Missing Rich” in Household Surveys: Causes and Correction Approaches," Commitment to Equity (CEQ) Working Paper Series 75, Tulane University, Department of Economics.
    6. Li, Chengyou & Yu, Yangcheng & Li, Qinghai, 2021. "Top-income data and income inequality correction in China," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 210-219.
    7. Pablo Gutiérrez Cubillos, 2022. "Gini and undercoverage at the upper tail: a simple approximation," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 29(2), pages 443-471, April.
    8. Jordá, Vanesa & Niño-Zarazúa, Miguel, 2019. "Global inequality: How large is the effect of top incomes?," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 1-1.

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    Keywords

    Inequality; Tax Law; Poverty Impact Evaluation; Emerging Markets; Poverty Diagnostics;
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