IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cje/issued/v50y2017i5p1224-1261.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Wealth inequality: Theory, measurement and decomposition

Author

Listed:
  • James B. Davies
  • Nicole M. Fortin
  • Thomas Lemieux

Abstract

This paper reviews the basic principles of inequality measurement, underlining the advantages and shortcomings of alternative measures from a theoretical standpoint and in the context of the study of the distribution of wealth. Adopting the two most popular measures, the Gini index and the P-shares, the paper documents wealth inequality in Canada using the 1999, 2005 and 2012 Survey of Financial Security (SFS). It carries out several decompositions with covariates, featuring DFL-type reweighting methods and Gini and P-shares RIF regressions. The latter parallel decompositions deepen our understanding of how changes in socio-demographic characteristics, including the compensating role of family formation and human capital, impact wealth inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • James B. Davies & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2017. "Wealth inequality: Theory, measurement and decomposition," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1224-1261, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:50:y:2017:i:5:p:1224-1261
    DOI: 10.1111/caje.12313
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/caje.12313
    Download Restriction: access restricted to subscribers
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/caje.12313?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version below or search for a different version of it.

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. DiNardo, John & Fortin, Nicole M & Lemieux, Thomas, 1996. "Labor Market Institutions and the Distribution of Wages, 1973-1992: A Semiparametric Approach," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(5), pages 1001-1044, September.
    2. Ben Jann, 2016. "Assessing inequality using percentile shares," Stata Journal, StataCorp LP, vol. 16(2), pages 264-300, June.
    3. Michael R. Veall, 2012. "Top income shares in Canada: recent trends and policy implications," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(4), pages 1247-1272, November.
    4. Carpantier, Jean-Francois & Olivera, Javier & Van Kerm, Philippe, 2018. "Macroprudential policy and household wealth inequality," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 262-277.
    5. Frank A. Cowell & Philippe Kerm, 2015. "Wealth Inequality: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 671-710, September.
    6. Cowell, Frank A & Victoria-Feser, Maria-Pia, 1996. "Robustness Properties of Inequality Measures," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(1), pages 77-101, January.
    7. Kolm, Serge-Christophe, 1976. "Unequal inequalities. II," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 82-111, August.
    8. Davies, James & Hoy, Michael, 1995. "Making Inequality Comparisons When Lorenz Curves Intersect," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(4), pages 980-986, September.
    9. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2003. "Income Inequality in the United States, 1913–1998," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 1-41.
    10. Livio Di Matteo, 2016. "Wealth Distribution and the Canadian Middle Class: Historical Evidence and Policy Implications," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 42(2), pages 132-151, June.
    11. Wojciech Kopczuk, 2015. "What Do We Know about the Evolution of Top Wealth Shares in the United States?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 29(1), pages 47-66, Winter.
    12. CHOE Chung & VAN KERM Philippe, 2014. "Foreign workers and the wage distribution: Where do they fit in?," LISER Working Paper Series 2014-02, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    13. Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2015. "Changes in wage inequality in Canada: An interprovincial perspective," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 682-713, May.
    14. Krishna Pendakur, 1998. "Changes In Canadian Family Income And Family Consumption Inequality Between 1978 And 1992," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 44(2), pages 259-282, June.
    15. repec:hal:pseose:halshs-00879814 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Anthony F. Shorrocks & James E. Foster, 1987. "Transfer Sensitive Inequality Measures," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 54(3), pages 485-497.
    17. Frank Cowell & Brian Nolan & Javier Olivera & Philippe Van Kerm, 2017. "Wealth, Top Incomes and Inequality," LWS Working papers 24, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    18. Matthew Brzozowski & Martin Gervais & Paul Klein & Michio Suzuki, 2010. "Consumption, Income, and Wealth Inequality in Canada," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 13(1), pages 52-75, January.
    19. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2013. "Top Incomes and the Great Recession: Recent Evolutions and Policy Implications," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 61(3), pages 456-478, August.
    20. Sergio Firpo & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2009. "Unconditional Quantile Regressions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 77(3), pages 953-973, May.
    21. Jesse Bricker & Alice Henriques & Jacob Krimmel & John Sabelhaus, 2016. "Measuring Income and Wealth at the Top Using Administrative and Survey Data," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 47(1 (Spring), pages 261-331.
    22. Beach, Charles M & Richmond, James, 1985. "Joint Confidence Intervals for Income Shares and Lorenz Curves," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 26(2), pages 439-450, June.
    23. Thomas Lemieux, 2006. "Increasing Residual Wage Inequality: Composition Effects, Noisy Data, or Rising Demand for Skill?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(3), pages 461-498, June.
    24. Russell Davidson & Jean-Yves Duclos, 2000. "Statistical Inference for Stochastic Dominance and for the Measurement of Poverty and Inequality," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 68(6), pages 1435-1464, November.
    25. Lars Osberg & Fazley Siddiq, 1988. "The Inequality Of Wealth I N Britain'S North American Colonies: The Importance Of The Relatively Poor," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 34(2), pages 143-163, June.
    26. Ronald L. Oaxaca & Michael R. Ransom, 1999. "Identification in Detailed Wage Decompositions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 81(1), pages 154-157, February.
    27. James B. Davies & Rodrigo Lluberas & Anthony F. Shorrocks, 2017. "Estimating the Level and Distribution of Global Wealth, 2000–2014," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 63(4), pages 731-759, December.
    28. Kaja Bonesmo Fredriksen, 2012. "Less Income Inequality and More Growth – Are they Compatible? Part 6. The Distribution of Wealth," OECD Economics Department Working Papers 929, OECD Publishing.
    29. Emmanuel Saez & Michael R. Veall, 2005. "The Evolution of High Incomes in Northern America: Lessons from Canadian Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(3), pages 831-849, June.
    30. Patrick Kline, 2011. "Oaxaca-Blinder as a Reweighting Estimator," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 532-537, May.
    31. Matteo, Livio Di, 1997. "The Determinants of the Wealth and Asset Holding in Nineteenth-Century Canada: Evidence from Microdata," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 57(4), pages 907-934, December.
    32. Shorrocks, A F, 1982. "Inequality Decomposition by Factor Components," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 193-211, January.
    33. Gail Oja, 1983. "The Distribution Of Wealth In Canada," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 29(2), pages 161-173, June.
    34. repec:bla:revinw:v:34:y:1988:i:2:p:143-63 is not listed on IDEAS
    35. John Bishop & Paul Thistle & Subhabrata Chakraborti, 1989. "Relative Deprivation and Economic Welfare: A Statistical Investigation with Gini-Based Welfare Indices," LIS Working papers 32, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    36. repec:bla:revinw:v:29:y:1983:i:2:p:161-73 is not listed on IDEAS
    37. Emmanuel Saez & Gabriel Zucman, 2016. "Editor's Choice Wealth Inequality in the United States since 1913: Evidence from Capitalized Income Tax Data," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(2), pages 519-578.
    38. repec:bla:revinw:v:20:y:1974:i:2:p:203-16 is not listed on IDEAS
    39. Sen, Amartya, 1973. "On Economic Inequality," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780198281931.
    40. Siddiq, Fazley K & Beach, Charles M, 1995. "Characterizing Life-Cycle Wealth Distributions Using Statistical Inference and Dominance Criteria," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 20(4), pages 551-575.
    41. J. R. Podoluk, 1974. "Measurement Of The Distribution Of Wealth In Canada," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 20(2), pages 203-216, June.
    42. J. B. Davies, 1979. "On The Size Distribution Of Wealth In Canada," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 25(3), pages 237-259, September.
    43. repec:bla:econom:v:58:y:1991:i:232:p:461-77 is not listed on IDEAS
    44. Frank A. Cowell & Fatemeh Mehta, 1982. "The Estimation and Interpolation of Inequality Measures," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 49(2), pages 273-290.
    45. Charles M. Beach & Russell Davidson, 1983. "Distribution-Free Statistical Inference with Lorenz Curves and Income Shares," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 50(4), pages 723-735.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Maximilian Longmuir & Carsten Schröde & Matteo Targa, 2020. "De-Routinization of Jobs and Polarization of Earnings: Evidence from 35 Countries," Working Papers 1397, Economic Research Forum, revised 20 Jun 2020.
    2. Marc Fleurbaey & Domenico Moramarco & Vito Peragine, "undated". "Measuring inequality and welfare when some inequalities matter more than others," Working Papers ecineq-, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.
    3. Fernando Rios-Avila, 2019. "Recentered Influence Functions in Stata: Methods for Analyzing the Determinants of Poverty and Inequality," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_927, Levy Economics Institute.
    4. Javier Alejo & Gabriel Montes-Rojas & Walter Sosa-Escudero, 2023. "RIF regression via sensitivity curves," Statistical Methods & Applications, Springer;Società Italiana di Statistica, vol. 32(1), pages 329-345, March.
    5. Olivera, Javier, 2019. "The distribution of pension wealth in Europe," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 13(C), pages 30-42.
    6. Javier Olivera & Yadiraah Iparraguirre, 2022. "The Gender Gap in Pension Savings: Evidence from Peru's Individual Capitalization System," LISER Working Paper Series 2022-06, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    7. Bernal, Noelia & Olivera, Javier, 2020. "Choice of pension management fees and effects on pension wealth," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 176(C), pages 539-568.
    8. Michał Brzeziński & Katarzyna Sałach, 2020. "Why wealth inequality differs between post-socialist countries?," Working Papers 2020-14, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    9. Kelly Foley & David A. Green & W. Craig Riddell, 2024. "Canadian inequality over the last 40 years: common and contrary variations on universal themes," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 45(2), pages 119-130, June.
    10. Sałach-Dróżdż Katarzyna, 2024. "Wealth inequality, income inequality, and subjective well-being: A cross-country study," International Journal of Management and Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, Collegium of World Economy, vol. 60(3), pages 227-242.
    11. Brzezinski, Michal & Sałach, Katarzyna, 2021. "Factors that account for the wealth inequality differences between post-socialist countries," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    12. Olivera, Javier, 2023. "A distributive analysis using Peru’s National Transfer Accounts," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 26(C).
    13. Rhea Ravenna Sohst & Alessio Fusco & Philippe Van Kerm, 2024. "Foreign-born households’ contribution to inequality and polarization in European income distributions," LISER Working Paper Series 2024-06, Luxembourg Institute of Socio-Economic Research (LISER).
    14. Disslbacher, Franziska & Rapp, Severin, 2024. "Leaving Legacies and Liabilities: The Distribution of Wealth at Death," SocArXiv z3wfv, Center for Open Science.
    15. John C. Stevenson, 2024. "Death, Taxes, and Inequality. Can a Minimal Model Explain Real Economic Inequality?," Papers 2406.13789, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2024.
    16. David Leung & Markus Poschke, 2022. "Le Québec devrait-il augmenter les taxes à la consommation?," CIRANO Project Reports 2021rp-30, CIRANO.
    17. Disslbacher, Franziska & Rapp, Severin, 2024. "Leaving Legacies and Liabilities: The Distribution of Wealth at Death," OSF Preprints y9xt3, Center for Open Science.
    18. Carlos Gradín, 2020. "Quantifying the contribution of a subpopulation to inequality an application to Mozambique," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 18(3), pages 391-419, September.
    19. Gerson Pech & Catarina Delgado, 2020. "Percentile and stochastic-based approach to the comparison of the number of citations of articles indexed in different bibliographic databases," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 123(1), pages 223-252, April.
    20. Jermaine Toney & Darrick Hamilton, 2022. "Economic insecurity in the family tree and the racial wealth gap," Review of Evolutionary Political Economy, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 539-574, October.
    21. Javier Olivera & Yadiraah Iparraguirre, 2022. "Gender gap in pension savings: Evidence from Peru’s individual capitalization system∗," Documentos de Trabajo / Working Papers 2022-513, Departamento de Economía - Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
    22. Carlos Gradín, 2018. "Quantifying the contribution of a subpopulation to inequality: An application to Mozambique," WIDER Working Paper Series 60, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    23. David Leung & Markus Poschke, 2023. "Progressive consumption tax reforms," CIRANO Project Reports 2023rp-07, CIRANO.
    24. Javier Olivera & Yadiraah Iparraguirre, 2022. "The Gender Gap in Pension Savings," Working Papers 624, ECINEQ, Society for the Study of Economic Inequality.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. James B. Davies & Livio Di Matteo, 2021. "Long Run Canadian Wealth Inequality in International Context," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 67(1), pages 134-164, March.
    2. Sergio P. Firpo & Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2018. "Decomposing Wage Distributions Using Recentered Influence Function Regressions," Econometrics, MDPI, vol. 6(2), pages 1-40, May.
    3. Atanu Ghoshray & Issam Malki & Javier Ordóñez, 2022. "On the long-run dynamics of income and wealth inequality," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(2), pages 375-408, February.
    4. Frank A. Cowell & Philippe Kerm, 2015. "Wealth Inequality: A Survey," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 671-710, September.
    5. Stephen P. Jenkins & John Micklewright, 2007. "New Directions in the Analysis of Inequality and Poverty," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 700, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    6. Frank Cowell & Emmanuel Flachaire, 2021. "Inequality Measurement: Methods and Data," Post-Print hal-03589066, HAL.
    7. Audra Bowlus & Émilien Gouin‐Bonenfant & Huju Liu & Lance Lochner & Youngmin Park, 2022. "Four decades of Canadian earnings inequality and dynamics across workers and firms," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 13(4), pages 1447-1491, November.
    8. Stephen P. Jenkins & Richard V. Burkhauser & Shuaizhang Feng & Jeff Larrimore, 2011. "Measuring inequality using censored data: a multiple‐imputation approach to estimation and inference," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 174(1), pages 63-81, January.
    9. Frank A. Cowell & Emmanuel Flachaire, 2014. "Statistical Methods for Distributional Analysis," Working Papers halshs-01115996, HAL.
    10. Charles M. Beach, 2016. "Changing income inequality: A distributional paradigm for Canada," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(4), pages 1229-1292, November.
    11. Fortin, Nicole & Lemieux, Thomas & Firpo, Sergio, 2011. "Decomposition Methods in Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 1, pages 1-102, Elsevier.
    12. Victor Chernozhukov & Iván Fernández‐Val & Blaise Melly, 2013. "Inference on Counterfactual Distributions," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 81(6), pages 2205-2268, November.
    13. Per Krusell & Anthony Smith & Joachim Hubmer, 2015. "The historical evolution of the wealth distribution: A quantitative-theoretic investigation," 2015 Meeting Papers 1406, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    14. Moritz Kuhn & Moritz Schularick & Ulrike I. Steins, 2020. "Income and Wealth Inequality in America, 1949–2016," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(9), pages 3469-3519.
    15. Nicole M. Fortin & Thomas Lemieux, 2015. "Changes in wage inequality in Canada: An interprovincial perspective," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(2), pages 682-713, May.
    16. Christian Bayer & Benjamin Born & Ralph Luetticke, 2024. "Shocks, Frictions, and Inequality in US Business Cycles," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(5), pages 1211-1247, May.
    17. Carranza, Rafael & De Rosa, Mauricio & Flores, Ignacio, 2023. "Wealth Inequality in Latin America," IDB Publications (Working Papers) 12906, Inter-American Development Bank.
    18. Michał Brzeziński & Katarzyna Sałach, 2020. "Why wealth inequality differs between post-socialist countries?," Working Papers 2020-14, Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw.
    19. Davies, James B. & Hoy, Michael, 2002. "Flat rate taxes and inequality measurement," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 33-46, April.
    20. Jacob Lundberg & Daniel Waldenström, 2018. "Wealth Inequality in Sweden: What can we Learn from Capitalized Income Tax Data?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(3), pages 517-541, September.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cje:issued:v:50:y:2017:i:5:p:1224-1261. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Prof. Werner Antweiler (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ceaaaea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.