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Pareto's Law of Income Distribution: Evidence for Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States

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  • F. Clementi
  • M. Gallegati

Abstract

We analyze three sets of income data: the US Panel Study of Income Dynamics PSID), the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS), and the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). It is shown that the empirical income distribution is consistent with a two-parameter lognormal function for the low-middle income group (97%-99% of the population), and with a Pareto or power law function for the high income group (1%-3% of the population). This mixture of two qualitatively different analytical distributions seems stable over the years covered by our data sets, although their parameters significantly change in time. It is also found that the probability density of income growth rates almost has the form of an exponential function.

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  • F. Clementi & M. Gallegati, 2005. "Pareto's Law of Income Distribution: Evidence for Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States," Papers physics/0504217, arXiv.org, revised Mar 2006.
    • Handle: RePEc:arx:papers:physics/0504217
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D2 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations
    • D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
    • D4 - Microeconomics - - Market Structure, Pricing, and Design

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