What is Missing in the EVS? - A Distribution Analysis of High Incomes for Self-Employed Persons and Employees Based on the Sample Survey of Income and Expenditures (EVS)

Abstract

An outstanding microdatabase for the analysis of income and its distribution is the Income and Consumption Survey (EVS). However, high income above the 35.000 DM household net income per month frontier are not available. In this study we analyse for the first time, which distributional consequences a merging between the EVS and the Income Tax Statistics (EStS) records with its high (above these 35.000 DM) incomes will have. We start with a description of the Wage and Income Tax Statistic (EStS) as a well suited microdatabasis to income analyses in general and for high income in particular. Our merging strategy uses taxpaying classes divided by householdtypes. With the merged Income Tax Statistic EStS/EVS 1995 vs. EVS 1993 we compare and analyse the distribution of income on the household level and on the personal level via equivalence income concepts. We investigate in particular high incomes with a distributional analysis and a decomposition for the selfemployed and the employees. Structural analyses then decribe the spectrum of rich and non rich households for different socio-economic attributes. The concluding remarks emphasize the need for an integrated microdatafile for a targeted economic and social policy.

Keywords: Income distribution, high income, rich households, merging of the Income and consumption Sample (EVS) and the Wage and Income Tax Statistic (EStS), Integrated microdatafiles, Self-employed and Employees

JEL Classification: J20, J22, J23