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Estimating top income shares without tax return data: Mexico since the 1990s

Author

Listed:
  • Raymundo M. Campos-Vazquez

    () (El Colegio de Mexico)

  • Emmanuel Chavez

    () (Paris School of Economics)

  • Gerardo Esquivel

    () (UNAM and El Colegio de México)

Abstract

This study estimates the income of individuals in the top part of the income distribution in Mexico since 1992. Mexico is the only OECD country that does not publicly report income from fiscal sources. To circumvent this problem we use income information from household surveys but adjust the misrepresentation of top earners using national accounts data. We then estimate incomes of the very rich using interpolations based on a Pareto distribution. Once we correct for the misrepresentation of top earners in the survey, we find that the income share of the top decile has increased in the last two decades. Our findings contradict the conclusion that is usually obtained solely from household survey information. We also find that the income share of top 1 percent earners in Mexico is close to 25 percent, placing Mexico as one of the countries where the rich take the largest share of total income. Moreover, we find that inequality among the rich in Mexico is larger than in most countries where information is available.

Suggested Citation

  • Raymundo M. Campos-Vazquez & Emmanuel Chavez & Gerardo Esquivel, 2016. "Estimating top income shares without tax return data: Mexico since the 1990s," Serie documentos de trabajo del Centro de Estudios Económicos 2016-04, El Colegio de México, Centro de Estudios Económicos.
    • Handle: RePEc:emx:ceedoc:2016-04
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    File URL: http://cee.colmex.mx/images/Documentos-de-trabajo-2016/DTCEEIV2016.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Thomas Goda & Santiago Sanchez, 2018. "Market and Disposable Top Income Shares adjusted by National Accounts Data," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 26(2), pages 1-22, July.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    top income; rich; inequality; Pareto; Mexico;

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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