Deriving Long-Run Inequality Series from Tax Data

34 Pages Posted: 4 May 2004

See all articles by Andrew Leigh

Andrew Leigh

Australian House of Representatives Parliament House

Date Written: April 28, 2004

Abstract

Prior to the last three decades, regular surveys on household income were rare or non-existent in many developed countries, making it difficult for economists to develop long-run series on income distribution. Using taxation statistics, which tend to be available over a longer time span, I propose a method for imputing the incomes of non-taxpayers, and deriving the underlying distribution of income. Because taxation statistics are typically disaggregated by gender, it is possible to derive separate income distribution series for men and women in countries where individuals file separately. I show that over the past four decades, the distribution of adult male incomes is a good proxy for the distribution of family incomes. Applying this method to Australia, I develop a new annual series for inequality from 1942-2000. Inequality fell in the 1950s and the 1970s, and rose during the 1980s and 1990s - a pattern similar to the United Kingdom.

Keywords: income distribution, non-taxpayers, gini, Australia

JEL Classification: C81, D31, H23

Suggested Citation

Leigh, Andrew, Deriving Long-Run Inequality Series from Tax Data (April 28, 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=537004 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.537004

Andrew Leigh (Contact Author)

Australian House of Representatives Parliament House

Canberra, 2600
Australia