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Teaching Income Inequality with Data-driven Visualization

Author

Listed:
  • Sang Truong

    (Department of Computer Science, Stanford University)

  • Humberto Barreto

    (Department of Economics and Management, DePauw University)

Abstract

The distribution of household income is a central concern in economics due to its strong influence on society’s well-being and social cohesion. Yet, non-expert audi-ences face serious obstacles in understanding conventional measures of inequality. To effectively communicate the extent of income inequality in the United States, we have developed a novel technique for visualizing income distribution and its dispersion over time by using U.S. household income microdata from the Current Population Survey. The result is a striking dynamic animation of income distribu-tion over time, drawing public attention and encouraging further investigation of income inequality. Detailed implementation is available at https://github.com/sangttruong/incomevis. An interactive demonstration of our project is available at https://research.depauw.edu/econ/incomevis/.

Suggested Citation

  • Sang Truong & Humberto Barreto, 2022. "Teaching Income Inequality with Data-driven Visualization," Working Papers 2022-01, DePauw University, School of Business and Leadership and Department of Economics and Management.
    • Handle: RePEc:dew:wpaper:2022-01
    as

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    File URL: https://www.depauw.edu/site/learn/dew/wpaper/workingpapers/DePauw2022-01-Truong-Barreto-IncomeVis.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    3D; data visualization; data-driven education; Gini; survey; microdata; bootstrapping;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A2 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics
    • C1 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General
    • D6 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics
    • E6 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty
    • Y1 - Miscellaneous Categories - - Data: Tables and Charts

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