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Do rising top income shares affect the incomes or earnings of low and middle-income families?

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  • Elias Leight
  • Jeffrey P. Thompson

Abstract

This paper uses US state panel data to explore the relationship between the share of income received by affluent households and the level of income and earnings received by low and middle-income families. A rising top share of income can potentially lead to increases in the incomes of low and middle-income families if economic growth is sufficiently responsive to increases in inequality. A substantial literature on the impacts of inequality on economic growth exists, but has failed to achieve consensus, with various studies finding positive impacts, negative impacts, and no impacts on growth from increased levels of income inequality. This paper departs from that literature by exploring the effect of inequality on the standard of living of middle-income and low-income families. In the context of rising inequality, increased overall growth is not necessarily a suitable proxy for overall standard of living, since growth patterns are not always uniform for the entire income distribution. The results of this study indicate that increases in the top share of income (particularly the top one percent) are associated with declines in the actual incomes (and earnings) of middle income families, but have no clear impact on families at the bottom of the income distribution.

Suggested Citation

  • Elias Leight & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2012. "Do rising top income shares affect the incomes or earnings of low and middle-income families?," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2012-76, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2012-76
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    Cited by:

    1. Timothy Smeeding & Jeffrey P. Thompson, 2013. "Inequality and poverty in the United States: the aftermath of the Great Recession," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2013-51, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    2. Jeffrey Thompson, 2018. "Rising Top Incomes And Increased Borrowing In The Rest Of The Distribution," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 56(2), pages 686-708, April.
    3. Manoel Bittencourt & Shinhye Chang & Rangan Gupta & Stephen M. Miller, 2018. "Does Financial Development Affect Income Inequality in the U.S. States? A Panel Data Analysis," Working Papers 201803, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    4. Leena Kalliovirta & Tuomas Malinen, 2020. "Non‐Linearity and Cross‐Country Dependence of Income Inequality," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 66(1), pages 227-249, March.
    5. Josh Bivens & Lawrence Mishel, 2013. "The Pay of Corporate Executives and Financial Professionals as Evidence of Rents in Top 1 Percent Incomes," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 27(3), pages 57-78, Summer.
    6. Bittencourt, Manoel & Chang, Shinhye & Gupta, Rangan & Miller, Stephen M., 2019. "Does financial development affect income inequality in the U.S. States?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 1043-1056.

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