IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/unu/wpaper/wp-2021-82.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Measuring earnings inequality in South Africa using household survey and administrative tax microdata

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew Kerr

Abstract

Overall income inequality in South Africa is very high, and inequality generated in the labour market is a key driver of inequality. In this paper, I use the Post-Apartheid Labour Market Series, the General Household Surveys, and administrative tax microdata to describe earnings inequality in South Africa. I estimate Gini coefficients, the variance of log earnings, and various percentile ratios to document changes in earnings inequality.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew Kerr, 2021. "Measuring earnings inequality in South Africa using household survey and administrative tax microdata," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2021-82, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    • Handle: RePEc:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-82
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-82-measuring-earnings-inequality-South-Africa.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andrew Kerr, 2018. "Job Flows, Worker Flows and Churning in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 86(S1), pages 141-166, January.
    2. O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 4.
    3. O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), 2011. "Handbook of Labor Economics," Handbook of Labor Economics, Elsevier, edition 1, volume 4, number 5.
    4. Broecke, Stijn & Quintini, Glenda & Vandeweyer, Marieke, 2017. "Explaining international differences in wage inequality: Skills matter," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 112-124.
    5. Haroon Bhorat & Morné Oosthuizen & Kezia Lilenstein & François Steenkamp, 2017. "Firm-level determinants of earnings in the formal sector of the South African labour market," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2017-25, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    6. 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.
    7. Acemoglu, Daron & Autor, David, 2011. "Skills, Tasks and Technologies: Implications for Employment and Earnings," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 12, pages 1043-1171, Elsevier.
    8. Arden Finn & Murray Leibbrandt, 2018. "The evolution and determination of earnings inequality in post-apartheid South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2018-83, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Barry T. Hirsch & Edward J. Schumacher, 2004. "Match Bias in Wage Gap Estimates Due to Earnings Imputation," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(3), pages 689-722, July.
    10. Wittenberg, Martin., 2014. "Analysis of employment, real wage, and productivity trends in South Africa since 1994," ILO Working Papers 994847703402676, International Labour Organization.
    11. Edward P. Lazear & Kathryn L. Shaw, 2009. "The Structure of Wages: An International Comparison," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number laze08-1.
    12. Lazear, Edward P. & Shaw, Kathryn L. (ed.), 2009. "The Structure of Wages," National Bureau of Economic Research Books, University of Chicago Press, edition 2, number 9780226470504, August.
    13. Murray Leibbrandt & Ingrid Woolard & Arden Finn & Jonathan Argent, 2010. "Trends in South African Income Distribution and Poverty since the Fall of Apartheid," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 101, OECD Publishing.
    14. Ihsaan Bassier & Ingrid Woolard, 2021. "Exclusive Growth? Rapidly Increasing Top Incomes Amid Low National Growth in South Africa," South African Journal of Economics, Economic Society of South Africa, vol. 89(2), pages 246-273, June.
    15. Fiona Tregenna, 2010. "How significant is intersectoral outsourcing of employment in South Africa?," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 19(5), pages 1427-1457, October.
    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. Alexia Lochmann, 2022. "Diagnosing Drivers of Spatial Exclusion: Places, People, and Policies in South Africa’s Former Homelands," Growth Lab Working Papers 199, Harvard's Growth Lab.
    2. Alexia Lochmann, 2022. "Diagnosing Drivers of Spatial Exclusion: Places, People, and Policies in South Africa’s Former Homelands," CID Working Papers 140a, Center for International Development at Harvard University.
    3. Timothy Köhler & Haroon Bhorat & Robert Hill, 2023. "The effect of wage subsidies on job retention in a developing country: Evidence from South Africa," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-114, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

    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. Thanos Fragkandreas, 2022. "Three Decades of Research on Innovation and Inequality: Causal Scenarios, Explanatory Factors, and Suggestions," Working Papers 60, Birkbeck Centre for Innovation Management Research, revised Feb 2022.
    2. Fabián Slonimczyk, 2013. "Earnings inequality and skill mismatch in the U.S.: 1973–2002," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 11(2), pages 163-194, June.
    3. Magda, Iga & Gromadzki, Jan & Moriconi, Simone, 2021. "Firms and wage inequality in Central and Eastern Europe," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 499-552.
    4. Kerr, Andrew & Wittenberg, Martin, 2021. "Union wage premia and wage inequality in South Africa," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 255-271.
    5. Van Reenen, John, 2011. "Wage inequality, technology and trade: 21st century evidence," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 730-741.
    6. Gries, T. & Grundmann, R. & Palnau, I. & Redlin, M., 2015. "Does technological change drive inclusive industrialization? : A review of major concepts and findings," MERIT Working Papers 2015-044, United Nations University - Maastricht Economic and Social Research Institute on Innovation and Technology (MERIT).
    7. Muendler, Marc-Andreas, 2017. "Trade, technology, and prosperity: An account of evidence from a labor-market perspective," WTO Staff Working Papers ERSD-2017-15, World Trade Organization (WTO), Economic Research and Statistics Division.
    8. Katie Meara & Francesco Pastore & Allan Webster, 2020. "The gender pay gap in the USA: a matching study," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 33(1), pages 271-305, January.
    9. Filippos Petroulakis, 2023. "Task Content and Job Losses in the Great Lockdown," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 76(3), pages 586-613, May.
    10. repec:eur:ejesjr:364 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. David Card & Ana Rute Cardoso & Joerg Heining & Patrick Kline, 2018. "Firms and Labor Market Inequality: Evidence and Some Theory," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 36(S1), pages 13-70.
    12. Hans Gersbach & Jean-Charles Rochet & Martin Scheffel, 2023. "Financial Intermediation, Capital Accumulation, and Crisis Recovery," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 27(4), pages 1423-1469.
    13. Rendall, Michelle & Weiss, Franziska J., 2016. "Employment polarization and the role of the apprenticeship system," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 166-186.
    14. Sudipto Banerjee & David Blau, 2016. "Employment Trends by Age in the United States: Why Are Older Workers Different?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 51(1), pages 163-199.
    15. Amanda Weinstein & Carlianne Patrick, 2020. "Recession‐proof skills, cities, and resilience in economic downturns," Journal of Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(2), pages 348-373, March.
    16. Jeffrey L. Furman & Florenta Teodoridis, 2020. "Automation, Research Technology, and Researchers’ Trajectories: Evidence from Computer Science and Electrical Engineering," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(2), pages 330-354, March.
    17. Simon Firestone & Amy Lorenc & Ben Ranish, 2019. "An Empirical Economic Assessment of the Costs and Benefits of Bank Capital in the United States," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 101(3).
    18. Matthias Kehrig & Nicolas Vincent, 2017. "Growing Productivity without Growing Wages: The Micro-Level Anatomy of the Aggregate Labor Share Decline," CESifo Working Paper Series 6454, CESifo.
    19. Keller, Wolfgang & Utar, Hale, 2023. "International trade and job polarization: Evidence at the worker level," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(C).
    20. Jane E. Ihrig & Edward Kim & Cindy M. Vojtech & Gretchen C. Weinbach, 2019. "How Have Banks Been Managing the Composition of High-Quality Liquid Assets?," Review, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, vol. 101(3).
    21. Michel Lubrano & Abdoul Aziz Junior Ndoye, 2014. "Bayesian Unconditional Quantile Regression: An Analysis of Recent Expansions in Wage Structure and Earnings Inequality in the US 1992–2009," Scottish Journal of Political Economy, Scottish Economic Society, vol. 61(2), pages 129-153, May.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Earnings; Tax data; Administrative data; Survey data; South Africa;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:unu:wpaper:wp-2021-82. 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: Siméon Rapin (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/widerfi.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.