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Simplified Distributional National Accounts

Author

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  • Thomas Piketty
  • Emmanuel Saez
  • Gabriel Zucman

Abstract

This paper develops a simplified methodology to distribute total national income across income groups that reproduces closely the sophisticated methodology of Piketty, Saez, and Zucman (2018). It starts from top income share series based on fiscal income of Piketty and Saez (2003) and makes two basic assumptions on how national income components not included in fiscal income are distributed: (1) nontaxable labor income and capital income from pension funds are distributed like taxable labor income; (2) other nontaxable capital income is distributed like taxable capital income. This methodology could be applied to countries with less data.

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2019. "Simplified Distributional National Accounts," AEA Papers and Proceedings, American Economic Association, vol. 109, pages 289-295, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:apandp:v:109:y:2019:p:289-95
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20191035
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "Distributional National Accounts: Methods and Estimates for the United States," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(2), pages 553-609.
    2. Facundo Alvaredo & Anthony Atkinson & Lucas Chancel & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2016. "Distributional National Accounts (DINA) Guidelines : Concepts and Methods used in WID.world," Working Papers halshs-02794308, HAL.
    3. Facundo Alvaredo & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Lucas Chancel & Gabriel Zucman, 2018. "World Inequality Report 2018," PSE-Ecole d'économie de Paris (Postprint) halshs-01885458, HAL.
    4. Anthony B. Atkinson & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2011. "Top Incomes in the Long Run of History," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(1), pages 3-71, March.
    5. Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2016. "Editor's Choice Wealth Inequality in the United States since 1913: Evidence from Capitalized Income Tax Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(2), pages 519-578.
    6. Congressional Budget Office, 2018. "The Distribution of Household Income, 2015," Reports 54646, Congressional Budget Office.
    7. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2003. "Income Inequality in the United States, 1913–1998," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 1-41.
    8. Congressional Budget Office, 2018. "The Distribution of Household Income, 2014," Reports 53597, Congressional Budget Office.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Advani, Arun, 2021. "The taxation of capital gains : principles, practice, and directions for reform," The Warwick Economics Research Paper Series (TWERPS) 1379, University of Warwick, Department of Economics.
    2. Süssmuth, Bernd & Wieschemeyer, Matthias, 2022. "Taxation and the distributional impact of inflation: The U.S. post-war experience," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    3. Stefan Jestl & Emanuel List, 2023. "Inequality, Redistribution, and the Financial Crisis: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts for Austria," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(1), pages 195-227, March.
    4. Dennis Fixler & Marina Gindelsky & David Johnson, 2020. "Measuring Inequality in the National Accounts," BEA Working Papers 0175, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    5. Mathias Silva, 2023. "Parametric estimation of income distributions using grouped data: an Approximate Bayesian Computation approach [Working Papers / Documents de travail]," Working Papers hal-04066544, HAL.
    6. Jonathan Rothwell, 2019. "The Political Economy of Inequality in Rich Democracies," LIS Working papers 772, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    7. Das, Satya P. & Sant’Anna, Vinicios P., 2023. "Determinants of bilateral trade in manufacturing and services: A unified approach," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    8. Christian Awuku-Budu & Dirk van Duym, 2022. "Developing Statistics on the Distribution of State Personal Income: Methodology and Preliminary Results," BEA Working Papers 0197, Bureau of Economic Analysis.
    9. Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2020. "Trends in US Income and Wealth Inequality: Revising After the Revisionists," Working Papers halshs-03022102, HAL.
    10. Julio López Laborda & Carmen Marín González & Jorge Onrubia, 2020. "Observatorio sobre el reparto de los impuestos y las prestaciones entre los hogares españoles. Quinto informe – Sanidad y educación, 2013 - 2017," Studies on the Spanish Economy eee2020-28, FEDEA.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts

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