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Income distribution and income dynamics in the United Kingdom

Author

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  • Jayasri Dutta

    (Faculty of Economics and Politics, Sidgwick Avenue, Cambridge CB3 9DD, UK)

  • J. A. Sefton

    (National Institute of Economic and Social Research, 2 Dean Trench Street, London SW1P 3HE, UK)

  • M. R. WEALE

    (National Institute of Economic and Social Research, 2 Dean Trench Street, London SW1P 3HE, UK)

Abstract

In this paper, we propose a model of income dynamics which takes account of mobility both within and between jobs. The model is a hybrid of the mover-stayer model of income dynamics and a geometric random walk. In any period, individuals face a discrete probability of 'moving', in which case their income is a random drawn from a stationary recurrent distribution. Otherwise, they 'stay' and incomes follow a geometric random walk. The model is estimated on income transition data for the United Kingdom from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and provides a good explanation of observed non-linearities in income dynamics. The steady-state distribution of the model provides a good fit for the observed, cross-sectional distribution of earnings. We also evaluate the impact of tertiary education on income transitions and on the long-run distribution of incomes. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Jayasri Dutta & J. A. Sefton & M. R. WEALE, 2001. "Income distribution and income dynamics in the United Kingdom," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(5), pages 599-617.
    • Handle: RePEc:jae:japmet:v:16:y:2001:i:5:p:599-617
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Peter Gottschalk & Robert Moffitt, 1994. "The Growth of Earnings Instability in the U.S. Labor Market," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 25(2), pages 217-272.
    2. Atkinson, Anthony B., 1970. "On the measurement of inequality," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(3), pages 244-263, September.
    3. Abowd, John M & Card, David, 1989. "On the Covariance Structure of Earnings and Hours Changes," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 57(2), pages 411-445, March.
    4. Majumder, Amita & Chakravarty, Satya Ranjan, 1990. "Distribution of Personal Income: Development of a New Model and Its Application to U.S. Income Data," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 5(2), pages 189-196, April-Jun.
    5. McDonald, James B & Mantrala, Anand, 1995. "The Distribution of Personal Income: Revisited," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 10(2), pages 201-204, April-Jun.
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    Cited by:

    1. Dr Richard Dorsett & Dr Silvia Lui & Dr Martin Weale, 2010. "Economic Benefits of Lifelong Learning," National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) Discussion Papers 352, National Institute of Economic and Social Research.
    2. Lefilleur, Julien & Maurel, Mathilde, 2010. "Inter- and intra-industry linkages as a determinant of FDI in Central and Eastern Europe," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 34(3), pages 309-330, September.
    3. Legrand D. F. Saint-Cyr & Laurent Piet, 2017. "Movers and stayers in the farming sector: accounting for unobserved heterogeneity in structural change," Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series C, Royal Statistical Society, vol. 66(4), pages 777-795, August.
    4. Gustavo De Santis & Giambattista Salinari, 2008. "On the Evolution of Household Income," LIS Working papers 488, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    5. Sebastian Barnes & Gregory Thwaites, 2005. "'Real-world' mortgages, consumption volatility and the low inflation environment," Bank of England working papers 273, Bank of England.
    6. Richard Dorsett & Silvia Lui & Martin Weale, 2016. "The effect of lifelong learning on men’s wages," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 737-762, September.
    7. Miles, David & Sefton, James, 2002. "Optimal Social Security Design," CEPR Discussion Papers 3290, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    8. Piet, Laurent & Saint-Cyr, Legrand D.F., 2016. "Projection de la population des exploitations agricoles françaises à l’horizon 2025," Working Papers 250208, Institut National de la recherche Agronomique (INRA), Departement Sciences Sociales, Agriculture et Alimentation, Espace et Environnement (SAE2).
    9. Sefton, J. A., 2000. "A solution method for consumption decisions in a dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 24(5-7), pages 1097-1119, June.
    10. Saint-Cyr, Legrand D. F., 2016. "Accounting for farm heterogeneity in the assessment of agricultural policy impacts on structural change," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235778, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.

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