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Regional Income Stratification in Unified Germany Using a Gini Decomposition Approach

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  • Frick, Joachim R.

    (DIW Berlin)

  • Goebel, Jan

    (DIW Berlin)

Abstract

This paper delivers new insights into the development of income inequality and regional stratification in Germany after unification using a new method for detecting social stratification by a decomposition of the GINI index which yields the obligatory between- and within-group components as well as an "overlapping" index for the different sup-populations. We apply this method together with a jackknife estimation of standard errors. We find that East Germany is still a stratum on its own when using post-government income, but since 2001 no longer is when using pre-government income. These results remain stable when using alternatively defined regional classifications. However, there are also indications of some regional variation within West Germany. Overall, these findings are important for the political discussion with respect to a potential regional concentration of future transfers from East to West Germany.

Suggested Citation

  • Frick, Joachim R. & Goebel, Jan, 2005. "Regional Income Stratification in Unified Germany Using a Gini Decomposition Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 1891, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp1891
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    2. Gundi Knies & C. Katharina Spieß, 2007. "Regional Data in the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP)," Data Documentation 17, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    3. Giovanni Maria Giorgi & Alessio Guandalini, 2016. "Bonferroni Index Decomposition And The Shapley Method," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 70(4), pages 67-78, October-D.
    4. Paolo Liberati & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2012. "GDP and beyond: an implementation of welfare considerations to the distribution of earnings in Italy," Departmental Working Papers of Economics - University 'Roma Tre' 0146, Department of Economics - University Roma Tre.
    5. Robbert Maseland, 2014. "Does Germany have an East-West Problem? Regional Growth Patterns in Germany since Reunification," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(7), pages 1161-1175, July.
    6. Giovanni M. Giorgi & Alessio Guandalini, 2018. "Decomposing the Bonferroni Inequality Index by Subgroups: Shapley Value and Balance of Inequality," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-16, April.
    7. Denis Gerstorf & Nilam Ram & Jan Goebel & Jürgen Schupp & Ulman Lindenberger & Gert G. Wagner, 2010. "Where People Live and Die Makes a Difference: Individual and Geographic Disparities in Well-Being Progression at the End of Life," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 287, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    8. Rainer, Helmut & Siedler, Thomas, 2009. "Does democracy foster trust?," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 251-269, June.
    9. Bruckmeier, Kerstin & Schwengler, Barbara, 2009. "The impact of federal social policies on spatial income inequalities in Germany : empirical evidence from social security data," IAB-Discussion Paper 200901, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    10. Gertrudes Saúde Guerreiro, 2012. "Regional Income Distribution in Portugal," CEFAGE-UE Working Papers 2012_06, University of Evora, CEFAGE-UE (Portugal).
    11. Andreas Peichl & Nico Pestel & Hilmar Schneider, 2012. "Does Size Matter? The Impact Of Changes In Household Structure On Income Distribution In Germany," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 58(1), pages 118-141, March.
    12. Sander Wagner, 2017. "Children of the Reunification: Gendered Effects on Intergenerational Mobility in Germany," Working Papers 2017-03, Center for Research in Economics and Statistics.
    13. Aviad Tur-Sinai, 2019. "Is a Municipal Boundary a Good Stratification Variable?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 144(3), pages 1075-1098, August.
    14. Süß Philipp, 2020. "Regional Market Income Inequality and its Impact on Crime in Germany: A Spatial Panel Data Approach with Local Spillovers," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 240(4), pages 387-415, August.
    15. Gerasimova, Irina, 2009. "Sources of Income as a Factor of Interregional Social Economic Differentiation of the Russia’s Population (1995-2007)," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 16(4), pages 60-84.
    16. Shlomo Yitzhaki & Edna Schechtman, 2009. "The “melting pot”: A success story?," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 7(2), pages 137-151, June.
    17. Ruoff, Bea., 2016. "Labour market developments in Germany : tales of decency and stability," ILO Working Papers 994899913402676, International Labour Organization.
    18. Anoop S. Kumar & P. Yazir & G. G. Gopika, 2019. "Consumption Inequality In India After Liberalization: A Caste Based Assessment," The Singapore Economic Review (SER), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 64(01), pages 139-155, March.
    19. Linda Hoffmann & Alexandra Wicht, 2023. "»Should I Stay or Should I Go?« Prevalence and Predictors of Spatial Mobility among Youth in the Transition to Vocational Education and Training in Germany," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-21, May.
    20. Nora Würz & Timo Schmid & Nikos Tzavidis, 2022. "Estimating regional income indicators under transformations and access to limited population auxiliary information," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 185(4), pages 1679-1706, October.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    regional disparities; SOEP; German unification; stratification; Gini; inequality decomposition;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement

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