The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being, Great Britain, 1995 and 2005

Levy Economics Institute Working Papers Series No. 667

111 Pages Posted: 3 May 2011

See all articles by Selcuk Eren

Selcuk Eren

Bard College - Levy Economics Institute

Thomas Masterson

Bard College - Levy Economics Institute

Edward N. Wolff

New York University (NYU) - Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Bard College - Levy Economics Institute

Ajit Zacharias

Bard College - Levy Economics Institute

Date Written: May 2, 2011

Abstract

We construct estimates of the Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being for Great Britain for the years 1995 and 2005. We also produce estimates of the official British measures HBAI (from the Department for Work and Pensions annual report titled "Households below Average Income") and ROI (from the Office of National Statistics Redistribution of Income analysis). We analyze overall trends in the level and distribution of household well-being using all three measures for Great Britain as a whole and for subgroups of the British population. Gains in household economic well-being between 1995 and 2005 vary by the measure used, from 23 percent (HBAI) to 32 percent (LIMEW) and 35 percent (ROI). LIMEW shows that much of the middle class’s gain in well-being was as a result of increases in government expenditures. LIMEW also marks a greater increase in economic well-being among elderly households due to the increase in their net worth. The redistributive effect of net government expenditures decreased notably between 1995 and 2005 according to the official measures, primarily due to the change in the distributive impact of government expenditures.

Keywords: Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-being (LIMEW), Great Britain, Economic Well-Being, Economic Inequality, Household Income Measures

JEL Classification: D31, D63, P17

Suggested Citation

Eren, Selcuk and Masterson, Thomas and Wolff, Edward N. and Zacharias, Ajit, The Levy Institute Measure of Economic Well-Being, Great Britain, 1995 and 2005 (May 2, 2011). Levy Economics Institute Working Papers Series No. 667, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1829343 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1829343

Selcuk Eren (Contact Author)

Bard College - Levy Economics Institute ( email )

Blithewood
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
United States
845-758-7740 (Phone)
845-758-1149 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.levy.org

Thomas Masterson

Bard College - Levy Economics Institute ( email )

Blithewood Ave
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
United States
845-758-7700 (Phone)
845-758-1149 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://levy.org

Edward N. Wolff

New York University (NYU) - Department of Economics ( email )

269 Mercer Street, 7th Floor
New York, NY 10011
United States
212-998-8917 (Phone)
212-995-4186 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Bard College - Levy Economics Institute

Blithewood
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
United States

Ajit Zacharias

Bard College - Levy Economics Institute ( email )

Blithewood
Annandale-on-Hudson, NY 12504
United States
845-758-7734 (Phone)
845-758-1149 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.levy.org

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Downloads
40
Abstract Views
869
PlumX Metrics