Sacrifice ratios and the income distribution: Stylized facts for OECD countries

Abstract

This paper examines the distributional consequences of disinflation by estimating sacrifice ratios (percentage output losses relative to the change in inflation) for different income quintiles and the top 1% of the income distribution. We find that at the tails of the distribution the average percentage output losses are considerably higher than at the center: 1.7 times greater at the left tail, 2.7 times greater at the top 1%.