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The Use of Distributional National Accounts in Better Capturing the Top Tail of the Distribution

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  • Jorrit Zwijnenburg

    (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development)

Abstract

This article explains how the compilation of distributional results in line with national accounts’ totals may assist in overcoming some of the challenges faced by micro data statistics in measuring inequality, including capturing the top tail. As national accounts rely on a harmonised system of concepts and definitions in which multiple data sources are brought together in order to arrive at comprehensive, coherent and consistent results, they may capture elements that may be missing from underlying statistics and may provide more reliable estimates for items that may be more prone to quality issues in underlying statistics. This implies that aligning micro data to national accounts totals may improve the overall quality of distributional results, mainly depending on the way in which any gaps between the micro and macro data are allocated to underlying households. This article provides an overview of possible underlying reasons for the micro-macro gaps, including the issue of the missing rich, and provides guidance on how to deal with them in order to arrive at the best possible distributional results.

Suggested Citation

  • Jorrit Zwijnenburg, 2022. "The Use of Distributional National Accounts in Better Capturing the Top Tail of the Distribution," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(1), pages 245-254, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:joecin:v:20:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1007_s10888-022-09534-w
    DOI: 10.1007/s10888-022-09534-w
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Christoph Lakner & Branko Milanovic, 2016. "Global Income Distribution: From the Fall of the Berlin Wall to the Great Recession," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 30(2), pages 203-232.
    2. Bruce D. Meyer & Wallace K. C. Mok & James X. Sullivan, 2009. "The Under-Reporting of Transfers in Household Surveys: Its Nature and Consequences," NBER Working Papers 15181, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Philip Vermeulen, 2018. "How Fat is the Top Tail of the Wealth Distribution?," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 357-387, June.
    4. Maryse Fesseau & Maria Liviana Mattonetti, 2013. "Distributional Measures Across Household Groups in a National Accounts Framework: Results from an Experimental Cross-country Exercise on Household Income, Consumption and Saving," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2013/4, OECD Publishing.
    5. Jorrit Zwijnenburg & Sophie Bournot & David Grahn & Emmanuelle Guidetti, 2021. "Distribution of household income, consumption and saving in line with national accounts: Methodology and results from the 2020 collection round," OECD Statistics Working Papers 2021/01, OECD Publishing.
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    Cited by:

    1. Mauricio De Rosa & Joan Vilá, 2022. "Beyond tax-survey combination: inequality and the blurry household-firm border," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 22-10, Instituto de Economía - IECON.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Distributional results; Households; Micro data; National Accounts;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C82 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Macroeconomic Data; Data Access
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth

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