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Correcting the Underestimation of Top Incomes: Combining Data from Income Tax Reports and the Brazilian 2010 Census

Author

Listed:
  • Marcelo Medeiros

    (UnB, IPEA)

  • Juliana Castro Galvão

    (UnB)

  • Luísa Azevedo Nazareno

    (UnB)

Abstract

To deal with the problem of underestimation of top incomes in household surveys, we propose a methodology to combine the income distributions of the Brazilian 2010 Census (survey) and of 2010 DIRPF (personal income tax reports). The method consists in estimating a system of non-response weights that uses as frame the tax register and is applied to the top of the distribution. After applying this calibration methodology, we decompose inequality income sources. Correcting survey distributions with tax data increases the contribution of non-labor income to inequality, as the case of the Brazilian Census shows. Changes in the methodology do not affect the results substantially.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcelo Medeiros & Juliana Castro Galvão & Luísa Azevedo Nazareno, 2018. "Correcting the Underestimation of Top Incomes: Combining Data from Income Tax Reports and the Brazilian 2010 Census," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 135(1), pages 233-244, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:135:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11205-016-1498-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-016-1498-8
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Dominic Webber & Richard Tonkin & Martin Shine, 2020. "Using Tax Data to Better Capture Top Incomes in Official UK Income Inequality Statistics," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Distribution and Mobility of Income and Wealth, pages 679-700, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Tahnee Christelle Ooms, 2021. "Correcting the Underestimation of Capital Incomes in Inequality Indicators: with an Application to the UK, 1997–2016," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 929-953, October.
    3. Vladimir Hlasny, 2021. "Parametric representation of the top of income distributions: Options, historical evidence, and model selection," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(4), pages 1217-1256, September.
    4. Martin Ravallion, 2022. "Missing Top Income Recipients," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(1), pages 205-222, March.
    5. González Fernando Antonio Ignacio, 2019. "Detecting Anomalous Data in Household Surveys: Evidence for Argentina," Journal of Social and Economic Statistics, Sciendo, vol. 8(2), pages 1-10, December.
    6. Ooms, Tahnee, 2021. "Correcting the underestimation of capital incomes in inequality indicators: with an application to the UK, 1997–2016," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 108900, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

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