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Tax Progressivity of Personal Wages and Income Inequality

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  • Nikolaos Papanikolaou

    (Department of Economics and Business, Lehman College-CUNY, Bronx, NY 10468, USA)

Abstract

The paper examines tax progressivity and income inequality using Census Bureau Current Population Survey (CPS) personal income data. The Kakwani index is used to derive tax progressivity for All, Male, Female, White and African American personal wage income of CPS respondents, respectively. The tax progressivity results show a tax system that is partly progressive and mostly regressive. Due to its regressive nature, the tax system did not display tax progressivity for the entire period under analysis for personal wage income respondents as well as when broken-down by race and gender in the United States for years 1996 to 2011.

Suggested Citation

  • Nikolaos Papanikolaou, 2021. "Tax Progressivity of Personal Wages and Income Inequality," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 14(2), pages 1-11, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jjrfmx:v:14:y:2021:i:2:p:60-:d:491718
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Fatimah Alwi & Noor Saatila Mohd Isa & Nurfarizan Mazhani Mahmud & Amizahanum Adam & Mahfuzah Ahmad & Noor Faiza M Ja’afar, 2026. "Evaluating the Effectiveness of Tax Reliefs and Rebates in Reducing Financial Burden for Malaysian Taxpayers: Evidence from Year of Assessment 2024," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 10(3), pages 4225-4235, March.
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    4. Zuobao Wang & Tianrun Lin & Yao Chen & Shurui Zhang, 2025. "Is it Actually Working Well? A Comparative Study of the Redistributive Effectiveness of Public Social Benefits in 33 Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 179(1), pages 235-267, August.

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