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Effect of Marginal Changes in Income Sources On U.S. Income Inequality

Author

Listed:
  • Robert I. Lerman

    (The American University)

  • Shlomo Yitzhaki

    (Hebrew University)

Abstract

The success of public policies often turns on their distributional impacts. Policy analyses often compare inequality before and after the policy change, but such global estimates are sensitive to the ordering of income sources. This article presents a method for estimating distributional effects of marginal changes in income sources—including taxes and transfers—on the Gini coefficient and the extended Gini (which permits explicit focus on segments of distribution). The authors show how to integrate robustness and behavioral effects and to compare inequality effects across programs. The application yields estimates of the inequality impact per one dollar change in various U.S. taxes and transfers.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert I. Lerman & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 1994. "Effect of Marginal Changes in Income Sources On U.S. Income Inequality," Public Finance Review, , vol. 22(4), pages 403-417, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:pubfin:v:22:y:1994:i:4:p:403-417
    DOI: 10.1177/109114219402200401
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Möllers, Judith & Buchenrieder, Gertrud, 2011. "Effects of Rural Non-farm Employment on Household Welfare and Income Distribution of Small Farms in Croatia," Quarterly Journal of International Agriculture, Humboldt-Universitaat zu Berlin, vol. 50(3), pages 1-19.
    2. Paul Makdissi & Quentin Wodon, 2012. "Gini Decomposition And Gini Income Elasticity Under Income Variability," Bulletin of Economic Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 64(2), pages 184-191, April.
    3. Ivica Urban, 2022. "Two classical decompositions of the Gini index by income sources: interpretation of contribution terms," Working Papers 618, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    4. M Leibbrandt & H Bhorat & I Woolard, 2001. "Household Inequality And The Labor Market In South Africa," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 19(1), pages 73-86, January.
    5. Essama-Nssah, B., 2002. "Assessing the distributional impact of public policy," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2883, The World Bank.
    6. Fitoussi, Jean-Paul & Van Haeperen, Béatrice, 1998. "Inégalités de revenus, marchés du travail et politique de transferts. Comparaison internationale et décomposition par sources de revenus," LIDAM Discussion Papers IRES 1998027, Université catholique de Louvain, Institut de Recherches Economiques et Sociales (IRES).
    7. Quentin T. Wodon, 1999. "Between Group Inequality And Targeted Transfers," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 45(1), pages 21-39, March.
    8. Wodon, Quentin & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 2002. "Inégalité et bien-être social [Inequality and Social Welfare]," MPRA Paper 10488, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Ivica Urban, 2009. "Kakwani decomposition of redistributive effect: Origins, critics and upgrades," Working Papers 148, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    10. Simona ILIE, 2020. "Income Inequalities in Romania in the Aftermath of the 2008 Economic Crisis," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(2), pages 115-130, July.
    11. Quentin Wodon & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2002. "Evaluating the Impact of Government Programs on Social Welfare: The Role of Targeting and the Allocation Rules Among Program Beneficiaries," Public Finance Review, , vol. 30(2), pages 102-123, March.
    12. Thesia Garner & Katherine Terrell, 2001. "Some Explanations for Changes in the Distribution of Household Income in Slovakia: 1988 and 1996," William Davidson Institute Working Papers Series 377, William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan.
    13. Wodon, Quentin & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 2002. "Inequality and Social Welfare," MPRA Paper 12298, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Judith Möllers & Wiebke Meyer, 2014. "The effects of migration on poverty and inequality in rural Kosovo," IZA Journal of Labor & Development, Springer;Forschungsinstitut zur Zukunft der Arbeit GmbH (IZA), vol. 3(1), pages 1-18, December.
    15. Wodon, Quentin & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 2002. "Desigualdad y bienestar social [Inequality and Social Welfare]," MPRA Paper 10487, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Andrés Pereyra & Marcelo Pérez, 2013. "Distributive impact of transport expenditure: the case of Uruguay," Documentos de Investigación 90, Universidad ORT Uruguay. Facultad de Administración y Ciencias Sociales.
    17. Wodon, Quentin & Yitzhaki, Shlomo, 2002. "Неравенство И Общественное Благосостояние [Inequality and Social Welfare]," MPRA Paper 10489, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Akli Berri, 2009. "Transport consumption inequalities and redistributive effects of taxes: A repeated cross-sectional evaluation on French household data," Working Papers 145, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    19. Michele Giammatteo, 2007. "The bidimensional decomposition of inequality: A nested Theil approach," LIS Working papers 466, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.

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