IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/inq/inqwps/ecineq2008-89.html

The impact of household capital income on income inequality: A factor decomposition analysis for Great Britain, Germany and the USA

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Fräßdorf

    (University of Bamberg)

  • Markus M. Grabka

    (German Institute for Economic Research, DIW Berlin / SOEP)

  • Johannes Schwarze

    (University of Bamberg, DIW Berlin, and IZA, Bonn)

Abstract

This paper analyses the contribution of capital income to income inequality in a cross-national comparison. Using micro-data from the Cross-National Equivalent File (CNEF) for three prominent panel studies, namely the BHPS for Great Britain, the SOEP for West Germany, and the PSID for the USA, a factor decomposition method described by Shorrocks (1982) is applied. The factor decomposition of disposable income into single income components shows that capital income is exceedingly volatile and its share in disposable income has risen in recent years. Moreover, capital income makes a disproportionately high contribution to overall inequality in relation to its share in disposable income. This applies to Germany and the USA in particular. Thus capital income accounts for a large part of disparity in all three countries.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Fräßdorf & Markus M. Grabka & Johannes Schwarze, 2008. "The impact of household capital income on income inequality: A factor decomposition analysis for Great Britain, Germany and the USA," Working Papers 89, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    • Handle: RePEc:inq:inqwps:ecineq2008-89
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.ecineq.org/milano/WP/ECINEQ2008-89.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anthony F. Shorrocks, 1983. "The Impact of Income Components on the Distribution of Family Incomes," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 98(2), pages 311-326.
    2. Franz, Peter, 1997. "Welche Ursachen hat die Spreizung der Lohneinkommen in den USA? Aktuelle Aspekte der Forschung und der politischen Diskussion," IWH Discussion Papers 65/1997, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).
    3. Atkinson, A B, 1997. "Bringing Income Distribution in from the Cold," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 107(441), pages 297-321, March.
    4. Cowell, Frank & Mercader-Prats, Magda, 1999. "Equivalence scales and inequality," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 2190, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), 2000. "Handbook of Income Distribution," Handbook of Income Distribution, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 1, number 1.
    6. Lars Osberg, 1998. "Economic Insecurity," Discussion Papers 0088, University of New South Wales, Social Policy Research Centre.
    7. Markus M. Grabka, 2007. "Codebook for the $PEQUIV File 1984-2006: CNEF Variables with Extended Income Information for the SOEP," Data Documentation 21, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    8. John C. H. Fei & Gustav Ranis & Shirley W. Y. Kuo, 1978. "Growth and the Family Distribution of Income by Factor Components," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 92(1), pages 17-53.
    9. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2003. "Income Inequality in the United States, 1913–1998," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 1-41.
    10. Jantti, Markus & Danziger, Sheldon, 2000. "Income poverty in advanced countries," Handbook of Income Distribution, in: A.B. Atkinson & F. Bourguignon (ed.), Handbook of Income Distribution, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 6, pages 309-378, Elsevier.
    11. Juhn, Chinhui & Murphy, Kevin M & Pierce, Brooks, 1993. "Wage Inequality and the Rise in Returns to Skill," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 101(3), pages 410-442, June.
    12. Jenkins, S., 1988. "The Measurement Of Economic Inequality," Papers 170, Australian National University - Department of Economics.
    13. Joachim R. Frick & Markus M. Grabka, 2002. "The Personal Distribution of Income and Imputed Rent: A Cross-National Comparison for the UK, West Germany and the USA," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 271, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    14. Timothy M. Smeeding & Daniel H. Weinberg, 2001. "Toward a Uniform Definition of Household Income," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 47(1), pages 1-24, March.
    15. Richard V. Burkhauser & Shuaizhang Feng & Stephen P. Jenkins, 2009. "Using The P90/P10 Index To Measure U.S. Inequality Trends With Current Population Survey Data: A View From Inside The Census Bureau Vaults," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 55(1), pages 166-185, March.
    16. Peter Gottschalk & Timothy M. Smeeding, 1997. "Cross-National Comparisons of Earnings and Income Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 35(2), pages 633-687, June.
    17. Markus M. Grabka, 2006. "Codebook for the $PEQUIV File 1984-2005: CNEF Variables with Extended Income Information for the SOEP," Data Documentation 12, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    18. Lerman, Robert I & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 1985. "Income Inequality Effects by Income," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 67(1), pages 151-156, February.
    19. Atkinson Anthony B., 2000. "The Changing Distribution of Income: Evidence and Explanations," German Economic Review, De Gruyter, vol. 1(1), pages 3-18, February.
    20. David H. Autor & Lawrence F. Katz & Alan B. Krueger, 1998. "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Changed the Labor Market?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(4), pages 1169-1213.
    21. Bound, John & Johnson, George, 1992. "Changes in the Structure of Wages in the 1980's: An Evaluation of Alternative Explanations," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 82(3), pages 371-392, June.
    22. repec:bla:econom:v:64:y:1997:i:255:p:415-40 is not listed on IDEAS
    23. Shorrocks, A F, 1982. "Inequality Decomposition by Factor Components," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 193-211, January.
    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. Xie, Runli, 2010. "Consumption growth and volatility with consumption externalities," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2010-057, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    2. Florence Jaumotte & Carolina Osorio Buitron, 2020. "Inequality: traditional drivers and the role of union power," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 25-58.
    3. Frick, Joachim R. & Grabka, Markus M., 2009. "Accounting for Imputed and Capital Income Flows in Income Inequality Analyses," IZA Discussion Papers 4634, IZA Network @ LISER.
    4. Clemens Fuest & Judith Niehues & Andreas Peichl, 2010. "The Redistributive Effects of Tax Benefit Systems in the Enlarged EU," Public Finance Review, , vol. 38(4), pages 473-500, July.
    5. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2009-035 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Giuseppina Malerba & Marta Spreafico, 2013. "Income inequality in the European Union: evidence from a panel analysis," DISCE - Working Papers del Dipartimento di Politica Economica ispe0065, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Dipartimenti e Istituti di Scienze Economiche (DISCE).
    7. Kai Daniel Schmid & Ulrike Stein, 2013. "Explaining Rising Income Inequality in Germany, 1991-2010," IMK Studies 32-2013, IMK at the Hans Boeckler Foundation, Macroeconomic Policy Institute.
    8. Xie, Runli, 2009. "Trade-off between consumption growth and inequality: Theory and evidence for Germany," SFB 649 Discussion Papers 2009-035, Humboldt University Berlin, Collaborative Research Center 649: Economic Risk.
    9. repec:hum:wpaper:sfb649dp2010-057 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Jie Li & Alice Y. Ouyang, 2018. "Stock and Labor Market Synchronization and Income Inequality: Evidence from OECD Countries," Journal of International Commerce, Economics and Policy (JICEP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(01n02), pages 1-20, February.

    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. Fräßdorf, Anna & Grabka, Markus M. & Schwarze, Johannes, 2011. "The Impact of Household Capital Income on Income Inequality - A Factor Decomposition Analysis for the UK, Germany and the USA," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 9(1), pages 35-56.
    2. Blundell, Richard & Joyce, Robert & Norris Keiller, Agnes & Ziliak, James P., 2018. "Income inequality and the labour market in Britain and the US," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 48-62.
    3. Marco Ranaldi, 2022. "Income Composition Inequality," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(1), pages 139-160, March.
    4. Alexandra Spitz-Oener, 2006. "Technical Change, Job Tasks, and Rising Educational Demands: Looking outside the Wage Structure," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 24(2), pages 235-270, April.
    5. Daniele Checchi & Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Lara Vivian, 2016. "Are changes in the dispersion of hours worked a cause of increased earnings inequality?," IZA Journal of European Labor Studies, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 5(1), pages 1-34, December.
    6. Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "A Review of Decomposition of Income Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 1221, IZA Network @ LISER.
    7. Cecilia García-Peñalosa & Elsa Orgiazzi, 2013. "Factor Components of Inequality: A Cross-Country Study," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 59(4), pages 689-727, December.
    8. Cecilia Garcia Peñalosa & Orgiazzi, E., 2011. "GINI DP 12: Factor Components of Inequality. A Cross-Country Study," GINI Discussion Papers 12, AIAS, Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Labour Studies.
    9. Monte, Ferdinando, 2011. "Skill bias, trade, and wage dispersion," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(2), pages 202-218, March.
    10. Martin FOURNIER, 1999. "Décomposition de l'inégalité de revenu par source : méthode des rangs et application au cas de Taiwan version anglaise : "Inequality Decomposition by factor Component: a "rank correlation" approach illustrated on the Taiwanese Case&quo," Working Papers 199920, CERDI.
    11. Martin Fournier, 2000. "Inequality Decomposition by Factor Component: A New Approach Illustrated on the Taiwanese Case," Econometric Society World Congress 2000 Contributed Papers 1288, Econometric Society.
    12. Jurkatis, Simon & Strehl, Wolfgang, 2014. "Gini decompositions and Gini elasticities: On measuring the importance of income sources and population subgroups for income inequality," Discussion Papers 2014/22, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    13. Paul, Satya, 2004. "Income sources effects on inequality," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(1), pages 435-451, February.
    14. Kimhi, Ayal, 2011. "Comment: On the Interpretation (and Misinterpretation) of Inequality Decompositions by Income Sources," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1888-1890.
    15. Ilpo Suoniemi & Marja Riihelä & Risto Sullström, 2008. "Tax progressivity and recent evolution of the Finnish income inequality," Working Papers 246, Työn ja talouden tutkimus LABORE, The Labour Institute for Economic Research LABORE.
    16. Jonathan Morduch & Terry Sicular, 2002. "Rethinking Inequality Decomposition, With Evidence from Rural China," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 112(476), pages 93-106, January.
    17. Paolo Naticchioni & Andrea Ricci & Emiliano Rustichelli, 2007. "Wage Structure, Inequality And Skill-Biased Change: Is Italy An Outlier?," Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia, Finanza e Statistica 38/2007, Università di Perugia, Dipartimento Economia.
    18. Heshmati, Almas, 2004. "Data Issues and Databases Used in Analysis of Growth, Poverty and Economic Inequality," IZA Discussion Papers 1263, IZA Network @ LISER.
    19. Rafael De Hoyos, 2012. "Accounting for Mexican Income Inequality During the 1990s," Journal of Income Distribution, Ad libros publications inc., vol. 21(3-4), pages 103-125, November.
    20. Simon Jurkatis, "undated". "Dos and Don'ts of Gini Decompositions," BDPEMS Working Papers 2013003, Berlin School of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • D33 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Factor Income Distribution
    • I31 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General Welfare, Well-Being
    • F00 - International Economics - - General - - - General

    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:inq:inqwps:ecineq2008-89. 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: Maria Ana Lugo The email address of this maintainer does not seem to be valid anymore. Please ask Maria Ana Lugo to update the entry or send us the correct address (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ecineea.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.