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Inequality and the accounting period

Author

Listed:
  • Quentin Wodon

    (World Bank)

  • Shlomo Yitzhaki

    (Hebrew University)

Abstract

Income inequality typically declines with the length of time taken into account for measurement. This note derives an exact analytical relationship between the accounting period and inequality as measured by the Gini index. The formal relationship is similar to the decomposition of the coefficient of variation. The methodology is illustrated with panel data on urban wages from Mexico. It is found that the effect of the accounting period on inequality is sensitive to the properties of the Gini correlations between the periodical incomes. Reporting this type of correlation enables the evaluation of the impact of the length of the accounting period on inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Quentin Wodon & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2003. "Inequality and the accounting period," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 4(36), pages 1-8.
    • Handle: RePEc:ebl:ecbull:eb-03d30005
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Richard V. Burkhauser & John G. Poupore, 1997. "A Cross-National Comparison Of Permanent Inequality In The United States And Germany," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 79(1), pages 10-17, February.
    2. Creedy, John, 1979. "The Inequality of Earnings and the Accounting Period," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 26(1), pages 89-96, February.
    3. Gibson, John & Huang, Jikun & Rozelle, Scott, 2001. "Why is income inequality so low in China compared to other countries?: The effect of household survey methods," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 329-333, June.
    4. Schechtman, E. & Yitzhaki, S., 1999. "On the proper bounds of the Gini correlation," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 63(2), pages 133-138, May.
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    Cited by:

    1. Schröder, Carsten, 2012. "The sensitivity of distributional measures to the reference period of income," Kiel Working Papers 1777, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    2. Yoel Finkel & Yevgeny Artsev & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2006. "Inequality measurement and the time structure of household income in Israel," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 4(2), pages 153-179, August.
    3. Schröder, Carsten & Golan, Yolanda & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 2014. "Inequality and the time structure of earnings: Evidence from Germany," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 12(3), pages 349-409.
    4. Charlotte Bartels, 2012. "Redistribution and Insurance in the German Welfare State," Schmollers Jahrbuch : Journal of Applied Social Science Studies / Zeitschrift für Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaften, Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, vol. 132(2), pages 265-295.
    5. Allanson, Paul & Gerdtham, Ulf-G. & Petrie, Dennis, 2010. "Longitudinal analysis of income-related health inequality," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 78-86, January.
    6. Antonio Fern�ndez-Morales, 2017. "Tourism Mobility In Time And Seasonality In Tourism," RIEDS - Rivista Italiana di Economia, Demografia e Statistica - The Italian Journal of Economic, Demographic and Statistical Studies, SIEDS Societa' Italiana di Economia Demografia e Statistica, vol. 71(2), pages 21-30, April-Jun.
    7. E. Schechtman & S. Yitzhaki, 2003. "A Family of Correlation Coefficients Based on the Extended Gini Index," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 1(2), pages 129-146, August.

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    JEL classification:

    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • I0 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - General

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