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Measuring earnings inequality in South Africa using household survey and administrative tax microdata

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  • Andrew Kerr

Abstract

Overall income inequality in South Africa is very high, and inequality generated in the labour market is a key driver of inequality. In this paper, I use the Post-Apartheid Labour Market Series, the General Household Surveys, and administrative tax microdata to describe earnings inequality in South Africa. I estimate Gini coefficients, the variance of log earnings, and various percentile ratios to document changes in earnings inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Kerr, 2021. "Measuring earnings inequality in South Africa using household survey and administrative tax microdata," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-82, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-82
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4.
    2. O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 5.
    3. Haroon Bhorat & Morné Oosthuizen & Kezia Lilenstein & François Steenkamp, 2017. "Firm-level determinants of earnings in the formal sector of the South African labour market," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-25, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    4. Arden Finn & Murray Leibbrandt, 2018. "The evolution and determination of earnings inequality in post-apartheid South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-83, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    5. Barry T. Hirsch & Edward J. Schumacher, 2004. "Match Bias in Wage Gap Estimates Due to Earnings Imputation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(3), pages 689-722, July.
    6. Wittenberg, Martin., 2014. "Analysis of employment, real wage, and productivity trends in South Africa since 1994," ILO Working Papers 994847703402676, International Labour Organization.
    7. Murray Leibbrandt & Ingrid Woolard & Arden Finn & Jonathan Argent, 2010. "Trends in South African Income Distribution and Poverty since the Fall of Apartheid," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 101, OECD Publishing.
    8. Acemoglu, Daron & Autor, David, 2011. "Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 12, pages 1043-1171, Elsevier.
    9. Ihsaan Bassier & Ingrid Woolard, 2021. "Exclusive Growth? Rapidly Increasing Top Incomes Amid Low National Growth in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 89(2), pages 246-273, June.
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    11. Andrew Kerr, 2018. "Job Flows, Worker Flows and Churning in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 86(S1), pages 141-166, January.
    12. Broecke, Stijn & Quintini, Glenda & Vandeweyer, Marieke, 2017. "Explaining international differences in wage inequality: Skills matter," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 112-124.
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    Cited by:

    1. Alexia Lochmann, 2022. "Diagnosing Drivers of Spatial Exclusion: Places, People, and Policies in South Africa’s Former Homelands," CID Working Papers 140a, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    2. Timothy Köhler & Haroon Bhorat & Robert Hill, 2023. "The effect of wage subsidies on job retention in a developing country: Evidence from South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-114, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    Keywords

    Inequality; Earnings; Tax data; Administrative data; Survey data; South Africa;
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