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The sensitivity of distributional measures to the reference period of income

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  • Schröder, Carsten

Abstract

When individual or household incomes are collected for administrative or scientific surveys, the reference period of income is sometimes a month, sometimes a quarter, and sometimes a year. This reference period of income likely affects the shape of the distribution and derived measures of inequality, poverty, and mobility. Using employment histories of German residents, the present study systematically explores the sensitivity of distributional measures to the length of the reference period of income. Estimates from annual, quarterly and monthly distributions are provided for one and a half decades, starting from year 1991.

Suggested Citation

  • Schröder, Carsten, 2012. "The sensitivity of distributional measures to the reference period of income," Kiel Working Papers 1777, Kiel Institute for the World Economy (IfW Kiel).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:ifwkwp:1777
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    1. Carsten Schröder & Yolanda Golan & Shlomo Yitzhaki, 2014. "Inequality and the time structure of earnings: evidence from Germany," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 12(3), pages 393-409, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    inequality; poverty; mobility; reference period of income; monthly; quarterly; and annual distributions; earnings; Germany;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D1 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior
    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty

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