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Estimating Top Income and Wealth Shares: Sensitivity to Data and Methods

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  • Jesse Bricker
  • Alice Henriques
  • Jacob Krimmel
  • John Sabelhaus

Abstract

Administrative income tax data indicate that U.S. top income and wealth shares are both substantial and larger than shares observed in household surveys. However, these estimates are sensitive to the unit of analysis, the income concept measured in tax records, and, in the case of wealth, to assumptions about the correlation between income and wealth. We constrain a household survey--the Survey of Consumer Finances--to be conceptually comparable to tax records and are able to reconcile the much of the difference between the survey and administrative estimates. Wealth estimates from administrative income tax data are sensitive to model parameters.

Suggested Citation

  • Jesse Bricker & Alice Henriques & Jacob Krimmel & John Sabelhaus, 2016. "Estimating Top Income and Wealth Shares: Sensitivity to Data and Methods," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 641-645, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aecrev:v:106:y:2016:i:5:p:641-45
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/aer.p20161020
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lisa J. Dettling & Sebastian Devlin-Foltz & Jacob Krimmel & Sarah Pack & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2015. "Comparing Micro and Macro Sources for Household Accounts in the United States: Evidence from the Survey of Consumer Finances," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2015-86, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    2. Wojciech Kopczuk, 2015. "What Do We Know about the Evolution of Top Wealth Shares in the United States?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(1), pages 47-66, Winter.
    3. 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.
    4. Arthur B. Kennickell & R. Louise Woodburn, 1999. "CONSISTENT WEIGHT DESIGN FOR THE 1989, 1992 AND 1995 SCFs, AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF WEALTH," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 45(2), pages 193-215, June.
    5. Richard V. Burkhauser & Shuaizhang Feng & Stephen P. Jenkins & Jeff Larrimore, 2012. "Recent Trends in Top Income Shares in the United States: Reconciling Estimates from March CPS and IRS Tax Return Data," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(2), pages 371-388, May.
    6. Daphne Greenwood, 1983. "An Estimation Of U.S. Family Wealth And Its Distribution From Microdata, 1973," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 29(1), pages 23-44, March.
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    Cited by:

    1. Edward N. Wolff, 2021. "The declining wealth of the middle class, 1983–2016," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 461-478, July.
    2. Thilo N. H. Albers & Charlotte Bartels & Moritz Schularick, 2020. "The Distribution of Wealth in Germany, 1895-2018," ECONtribute Policy Brief Series 001, University of Bonn and University of Cologne, Germany.
    3. Milan Zafirovski, 2020. "Reopening the Black Box of Capitalist Dictatorship: Indicators and Aggregate Indexes for OECD Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 943-979, October.
    4. , Stone Center & Nolan, Brian & Palomino, Juan & Van Kerm, Philippe & Morelli, Salvatore, 2020. "Intergenerational Transfers by Size and Wealth Inequality in Rich Countries," SocArXiv eyh8s, Center for Open Science.
    5. Jeff Larrimore & Jacob Mortenson & David Splinter, 2021. "Household Incomes in Tax Data: Using Addresses to Move from Tax-Unit to Household Income Distributions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 56(2), pages 600-631.
    6. Juan C. Palomino & Gustavo A. Marrero & Brian Nolan & Juan G. Rodriguez, 2020. "Wealth inequality, intergenerational transfers and socioeconomic background," Working Papers 537, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    7. Benjamin Ching & Tayla Forward & Oscar Parkyn, 2023. "Estimating the Distribution of Wealth in New Zealand," Treasury Working Paper Series 23/01, New Zealand Treasury.
    8. Anna Naszodi, 2023. "What do surveys say about the historical trend of inequality and the applicability of two table-transformation methods?," Papers 2303.05895, arXiv.org.
    9. Morelli, Salvatore & Nolan, Brian & Palomino, Juan & Van Kerm, Philippe, 2021. "Inheritance, Gifts and the Wealth Deficit of Low-Income Households," SocArXiv 2mpuh, Center for Open Science.
    10. 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.
    11. Anna Naszodi, 2023. "Historical trend in educational homophily: U-shaped or not U-shaped? Or, how to set a criterion to choose a criterion?," Papers 2305.00231, arXiv.org, revised Feb 2024.
    12. Edward N. Wolff, 2020. "Taxes and the Revaluation of Household Wealth," NBER Working Papers 27328, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Salvatore Morelli & Brian Nolan & Juan C. Palomino & Philippe Van Kerm, 2022. "The Wealth (Disadvantage) of Single-Parent Households," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 702(1), pages 188-204, July.
    14. Jesse Bricker & Alice Henriques & Jacob Krimmel & John Sabelhaus, 2016. "Measuring Income and Wealth at the Top Using Administrative and Survey Data," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(1 (Spring), pages 261-331.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies

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