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Consumption, Income and Earnings Inequality in Britain

Author

Listed:
  • Richard Blundell

    (University College London)

  • Ben Etheridge

    (University College London)

Abstract

This paper presents an analysis of the trends in inequality across income, earnings and consumption in Britain since 1978. It documents the episodic nature of inequality growth over this period largely dominated by the inequality 'boom' in earnings inequality of the 1980s. It builds a consistent picture across these key measures of inequality to provide a coherent link between the microeconomic and macroeconomic analysis of the evolution of inequality. (Copyright: Elsevier)

Suggested Citation

  • Richard Blundell & Ben Etheridge, 2010. "Consumption, Income and Earnings Inequality in Britain," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 76-102, January.
  • Handle: RePEc:red:issued:09-202
    DOI: 10.1016/j.red.2009.10.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Marco Francesconi & Holly Sutherland & Francesca Zantomio, 2011. "A comparison of earnings measures from longitudinal and cross‐sectional surveys: evidence from the UK," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 174(2), pages 297-326, April.
    2. Erich Battistin & Richard Blundell & Arthur Lewbel, 2009. "Why Is Consumption More Log Normal than Income? Gibrat's Law Revisited," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 117(6), pages 1140-1154, December.
    3. Richard Blundell & Hamish Low & Ian Preston, 2004. "Income risk and consumption inequality: a simulation study," IFS Working Papers W04/26, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    4. Greg Kaplan, 2012. "Inequality and the life cycle," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 3(3), pages 471-525, November.
    5. Jonathan Heathcote & Kjetil Storesletten & Giovanni L. Violante, 2010. "The Macroeconomic Implications of Rising Wage Inequality in the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 118(4), pages 681-722, August.
    6. Jonathan Heathcote & Kjetil Storesletten & Giovanni L. Violante, 2014. "Consumption and Labor Supply with Partial Insurance: An Analytical Framework," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 104(7), pages 2075-2126, July.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Consumption; Income; Distributional Dynamics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • 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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