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The role of education and household composition for transitory and permanent income inequality–evidence from PSID data

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  • Ludwig, Johannes

Abstract

Transitory and permanent shocks to income have been shown to be important determinants of household consumption. This paper shows that there are significant differences in the trends of transitory and permanent income inequality between demographic groups since the 1980s. Using data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, educational attainment and the composition of a household are found to play a key role. While permanent inequality increases steadily for educated households, it is flat over large parts of the sample period for the less educated households. Transitory inequality increases for all households headed by couples whereas it is constant for single households. Altogether, permanent shocks account for a larger part of the income variance of educated households whereas transitory shocks are relatively more important for the less educated. These results are able to shed light on the transmission of changes in income inequality to consumption inequality.

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  • Ludwig, Johannes, 2015. "The role of education and household composition for transitory and permanent income inequality–evidence from PSID data," Journal of Macroeconomics, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 129-146.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jmacro:v:46:y:2015:i:c:p:129-146
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmacro.2015.08.008
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Income inequality; Transitory and permanent inequality; Income dynamics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E24 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Employment; Unemployment; Wages; Intergenerational Income Distribution; Aggregate Human Capital; Aggregate Labor Productivity

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