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Monetary policy and wealth inequality in South Africa: Evidence from tax administrative data

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  • Goodness C. Aye
  • Laurence Harris
  • Junior T. Chiweza

Abstract

This paper examines the relationship between monetary policy and wealth inequality in South Africa. We employed a unique database of tax administrative data which allowed us to account for individual heterogeneity. These tax data span from 2011 to 2017 and include over 3 million individual taxpayers in South Africa after data cleaning. Results based on fixed- and random-effects panel model estimates show that monetary policy generally increases wealth Gini inequality while it decreases the wealth 90-10 percentile differential.

Suggested Citation

  • Goodness C. Aye & Laurence Harris & Junior T. Chiweza, 2020. "Monetary policy and wealth inequality in South Africa: Evidence from tax administrative data," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-174, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2020-174
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    Cited by:

    1. Olivier Bargain & Paul Carrillo-Maldonado & Xavier Jara, 2023. "Top earners and earnings inequality during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Ecuadorian administrative data," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-4, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    2. Merrino, Serena, 2022. "Monetary policy and wage inequality in South Africa," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    3. Serena Merrino, 2021. "Wage inequality under inflationtargeting in South Africa," Working Papers 11018, South African Reserve Bank.

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    Keywords

    Monetary policy; Wealth inequality; Tax data; Heterogeneity;
    All these keywords.

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