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The Distribution of Top Incomes in Australia

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Author Info
ANTHONY B. ATKINSON
ANDREW LEIGH

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Abstract

Using taxation statistics, we estimate the income share held by top income groups in Australia over the period 1921-2003. We find that the income share of the richest fell from the 1920s until the mid-1940s, rose briefly in the postwar decade, and then declined until the early 1980s. During the 1980s and 1990s, top income shares rose rapidly. At the start of the twenty-first century, the income share of the richest was higher than it had been at any point in the previous 50 years. Among top income groups, recent decades have also seen a rise in the share of top income accruing to the super-rich. Trends in top income shares are similar to those observed among other elite groups, such as judges, politicians, top bureaucrats and chief executive officers. Copyright © 2007 The Economic Society of Australia.

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Article provided by The Economic Society of Australia in its journal Economic Record.

Volume (Year): 83 (2007)
Issue (Month): 262 (09)
Pages: 247-261
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Handle: RePEc:bla:ecorec:v:83:y:2007:i:262:p:247-261

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References listed on IDEAS
Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
  1. Cox, J P, 1976. "The National Survey of Income, Income Distribution and Temporary Poverty," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 52(140), pages 423-42, December.
  2. Saunders, Peter & Stott, Helen & Hobbes, Garry, 1991. "Income Inequality in Australia and New Zealand: International Comparisons and Recent Trends," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 37(1), pages 63-79, March.
  3. Peter Saunders, 1998. "Household Budgets and Income Distribution over the Longer Term: Evidence for Australia," Discussion Papers 0089, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre. [Downloadable!]
  4. Peter Saunders & Garry Hobbes, 1988. "Income Inequality in Australia in an International Comparative Perspective," Discussion Papers 004, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
  5. Meagher, G A & Dixon, Peter B, 1986. "Analyzing Income Distribution in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 62(179), pages 427-41, December.
  6. Norris, Keith, 1977. "The Dispersion of Earnings in Australia," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 53(144), pages 475-89, December.
  7. Peter Saunders & Garry Hobbes, 1988. "Income Inequality in Australia in an International Comparative Perspective," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 21(3), pages 25-34. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Bjorn Gustafsson & Birgitta Jansson, 2007. "Top Incomes in Sweden during Three-Quarters of a Century: A Micro Data Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 2672, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  2. Emmanuel Saez & Joel B. Slemrod & Seth H. Giertz, 2009. "The Elasticity of Taxable Income with Respect to Marginal Tax Rates: A Critical Review," NBER Working Papers 15012, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Richard V. Burkhauser & Shuaizhang Feng & Stephen P. Jenkins & Jeff Larrimore, 2009. "Recent Trends in Top Income Shares in the USA: Reconciling Estimates from March CPS and IRS Tax Return Data," NBER Working Papers 15320, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  4. Roine, Jesper & Vlachos, Jonas & Waldenström, Daniel, 2007. "What Determines Top Income Shares? Evidence from the Twentieth Century," Research Papers in Economics 2007:17, Stockholm University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  5. Jordi Guilera Rafecas, 2008. "Top income shares in Portugal over the twentieth century," Working Papers in Economics 195, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia. [Downloadable!]
  6. Anthony B. Atkinson & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2009. "Top Incomes in the Long Run of History," NBER Working Papers 15408, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Roine, Jesper & Waldenström, Daniel, 2006. "The Evolution of Top Incomes in an Egalitarian Society: Sweden, 1903–2004," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 625, Stockholm School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Andrew Leigh, 2004. "Deriving Long-Run Inequality Series from Tax Data," CEPR Discussion Papers 476, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  9. repec:ese:iserwp: is not listed on IDEAS
  10. Ross Finnie & Ian Irvine, 2006. "Mobility and Gender at the Top Tail of the Earnings Distribution," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 37(2), pages 149-173. [Downloadable!]
  11. Burkhauser, Richard V. & Feng, Shuaizhang & Jenkins, Stephen P. & Larrimore, Jeff, 2009. "Recent Trends in Top Income Shares in the USA: Reconciling Estimates from March CPS and IRS Tax Return Data," IZA Discussion Papers 4426, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  12. Roine, Jesper & Waldenström, Daniel, 2005. "Top Incomes in Sweden over the Twentieth Century," Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance 602, Stockholm School of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  13. A. B. Atkinson, 2004. "Income Tax and Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century," Hacienda Pública Española, IEF, vol. 168(1), pages 123-141, march. [Downloadable!]
  14. A. B. Atkinson & Andrew Leigh, 2005. "The Distribution of Top Incomes in New Zealand," CEPR Discussion Papers 503, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
  15. Sambit Bhattacharyya & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2009. "Commodity Price Shocks and the Australian Economy since Federation," CEPR Discussion Papers 605, Centre for Economic Policy Research, Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  16. Rolf Aaberge and Anthony B. Atkinson, 2008. "Top Incomes in Norway," Discussion Papers 552, Research Department of Statistics Norway. [Downloadable!]
  17. Dan Andrews & Christopher Jencks & Andrew Leigh, 2009. "Do Rising Top Incomes Lift All Boats?," CAMA Working Papers 2009-17, Australian National University, Centre for Applied Macroeconomic Analysis. [Downloadable!]
  18. Roine, Jesper & Waldenström, Daniel, 2009. "Common Trends and Shocks to Top Incomes – A Structural Breaks Approach," Working Paper Series 801, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
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