IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/gws/dpaper/15-16.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The impact of ageing on income inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Dr. Thomas Drosdowski

    (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research)

  • Britta Stöver

    (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research)

  • Dr. Marc Ingo Wolter

    (GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research)

Abstract

The question whether ageing leads to more or less inequality is not easily answered. Different, in part opposed, effects can be identified that are sensible to reactions of private households, the implementation of political measures etc. To get a better idea of the effect of demographic change on the distribution of income in Germany we apply a scenario analysis using the macro-econometric input-output model INFORGE and the socio-economic module DEMOS. Different exogenously given population projections are applied to identify the structural and quantity effect of ageing on inequality of disposable incomes between household groups. In summary, the projected demographic change in Germany is likely to increase income inequality. Main driver is the disproportionate increase in wage income due to labour market shortages. While the quantity effect acts slightly equalising on income inequality, the structural effect definitely raises income inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Dr. Thomas Drosdowski & Britta Stöver & Dr. Marc Ingo Wolter, 2015. "The impact of ageing on income inequality," GWS Discussion Paper Series 15-16, GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:gws:dpaper:15-16
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://papers.gws-os.com/gws-paper15-16.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Philip Ulrich & Martin Distelkamp & Ulrike Lehr, 2012. "Employment Effects of Renewable Energy Expansion on a Regional Level—First Results of a Model-Based Approach for Germany," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 4(2), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Mönnig, Anke & Zika, Gerd & Maier, Tobias, 2013. "Trade and qualification : linking qualification needs to Germany's export flows," IAB-Discussion Paper 201307, Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), Nürnberg [Institute for Employment Research, Nuremberg, Germany].
    3. Jürgen Faik, 2012. "Impacts of an Ageing Society on Macroeconomics and Income Inequality: The Case of Germany since the 1980s," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 518, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    4. 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.
    5. Britta Stoever, 2013. "The power of elderly consumers – how demographic change affects the economy through private household demand in Germany," EcoMod2013 5147, EcoMod.
    6. Pestieau, Pierre, 1989. "The Demographics of Inequality," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 2(1), pages 3-24.
    7. Mookherjee, Dilip & Shorrocks, Anthony F, 1982. "A Decomposition Analysis of the Trend in UK Income Inequality," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 92(368), pages 886-902, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Naudé, Wim & Nagler, Paula, 2017. "Technological Innovation and Inclusive Growth in Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 11194, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dr. Thomas Drosdowski & Britta Stöver & Dr. Marc Ingo Wolter, 2015. "Consumption modelling considering different socio-economic household types," GWS Discussion Paper Series 15-15, GWS - Institute of Economic Structures Research.
    2. Britta Stoever & Thomas Drosdowski & Ulrike Lehr & Marc Ingo Wolter, 2014. "Socioeconomic consumption modelling in an input-output model," EcoMod2014 6721, EcoMod.
    3. Charlotte Bartels & Maximilian Stockhausen, 2017. "Children's Opportunities in Germany – An Application Using Multidimensional Measures," German Economic Review, Verein für Socialpolitik, vol. 18(3), pages 327-376, August.
    4. Weigert, Benjamin & Klemm, Marcus, 2015. "Composition matters! Wage inequality and the demographic and educational structure of the labor force in Germany," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112914, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    5. Leo Azzollini & Richard Breen & Brian Nolan, 2023. "Demographic behaviour and earnings inequality across OECD countries," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 21(2), pages 441-461, June.
    6. Omoniyi B. Alimi & David C. Maré & Jacques Poot, 2018. "More Pensioners, Less Income Inequality? The Impact of Changing Age Composition on Inequality in Big Cities and Elsewhere," Advances in Spatial Science, in: Roger R. Stough & Karima Kourtit & Peter Nijkamp & Uwe Blien (ed.), Modelling Aging and Migration Effects on Spatial Labor Markets, chapter 0, pages 133-159, Springer.
    7. Weizsäcker, Robert K. von, 1995. "Does an Aging Population Increase Inequality?," Discussion Papers 535, Institut fuer Volkswirtschaftslehre und Statistik, Abteilung fuer Volkswirtschaftslehre.
    8. Klemm, Marcus & Weigert, Benjamin, 2014. "Does composition matter? Wage inequality and the demographic and educational structure of the labor force in Gemany," Working Papers 06/2014, German Council of Economic Experts / Sachverständigenrat zur Begutachtung der gesamtwirtschaftlichen Entwicklung.
    9. von Weizsacker, Robert K., 1996. "Distributive implications of an aging society," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 729-746, April.
    10. Salverda, Wiemer & Checchi, Daniele, 2014. "Labour-Market Institutions and the Dispersion of Wage Earnings," IZA Discussion Papers 8220, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. Omoniyi B Alimi & David C Maré & Jacques Poot, 2017. "More pensioners, less income inequality?," Working Papers 17_02, Motu Economic and Public Policy Research.
    12. Rembert De Blander & Ingrid Schockaert & André Decoster & Patrick Deboosere, 2017. "Projected Population, Inequality and Social Expenditures: The Case of Flanders," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 10(3), pages 92-133.
    13. Olivier Bargain, 2012. "Decomposition analysis of distributive policies using behavioural simulations," International Tax and Public Finance, Springer;International Institute of Public Finance, vol. 19(5), pages 708-731, October.
    14. Gabriel Felbermayr & Michele Battisti & Sybille Lehwald, 2016. "Income Inequality in Germany, Part 2: The Role of Redistribution," ifo Schnelldienst, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 69(14), pages 22-29, July.
    15. Francisco H G Ferreira & Sergio P Firpo & Julián Messina, 2022. "Labor Market Experience and Falling Earnings Inequality in Brazil: 1995–2012," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 36(1), pages 37-67.
    16. Thomas Hoehn & Marc Reichle, 1986. "Einkommensdisparitäten im Zentren-Peripherie-Kontext in der Schweiz," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics (SJES), Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics (SSES), vol. 122(II), pages 143-161, June.
    17. Guido Erreygers & Roselinde Kessels & Linkun Chen & Philip Clarke, 2016. "Decomposing Socioeconomic Inequality of Health," EcoMod2016 9574, EcoMod.
    18. repec:nbp:journl:v:41:y:2010:i:3:p:5-34 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Allanson, Paul, 2014. "Income stratification and between-group inequality," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 124(2), pages 227-230.
    20. Andreas Peichl & Nico Pestel & Sebastian Siegloch, 2013. "Ist Deutschland wirklich so progressiv? Einkommensumverteilung im europäischen Vergleich," Vierteljahrshefte zur Wirtschaftsforschung / Quarterly Journal of Economic Research, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research, vol. 82(1), pages 111-127.
    21. Takahiro Akita, 2002. "Regional Income Inequality In Indonesia And The Initial Impact Of The Economic Crisis," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(2), pages 201-222.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    income inequality; ageing; socio-economic modelling;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gws:dpaper:15-16. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: GWS mbH (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/gwsosde.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.