Income Distributions In Poland Research Articles

The relative persistence of income inequality and intra-generational income mobility in Poland during and after the Great Financial Crisis (2008-2015)

Poland has experienced a very sharp rise in income and wealth inequality after the economic transition. We measure the relative persistence of income inequality and intra-generational income mobility in Poland during the period 2008-2015. Our research is based on the panel survey data, our subsample includes 501 households. To measure the persistence of income inequality we calculate Shorrocks’s R coefficient. We find that if inequality is measured by the Gini index the relative persistence of income inequality in Poland is similar to Western Europe. In the case of the Theil index and the Mean Log Deviation (MLD), the relative persistence is higher than in a majority of Western Europe countries and similar to the United Kingdom or the United States. The income distribution in Poland is rather stable. Income mobility is lowest at the bottom and at the top of the income distribution. In the middle (3rd) quintile upward mobility is higher than downward mobility. The short-term income mobility in Poland has not changed during and after the Great Financial Crisis and is still medium in comparison with the rest of Europe.

Optimal Labor Income Taxation in Poland - the Case of High Income Earners

In this paper we present solutions to the optimal taxation problem in Poland in the case of high income earners. We characterize the actual data provided by the Polish Tax Authority and show that it is thick-tailed in the upper end of the distribution. Specifically, we show that income distribution in Poland can be approximated with a Pareto distribution with parameter equal to 3:44; which makes the Saez’s formula applicable. We show that the value of the optimal marginal tax rates in Poland ranges between 16% and 60% for high income earners depending on the value of the elasticity with respect to the wage. Moreover, we show that the value of the optimal marginal tax rate for high income earners can be close 60% when one accepts - an empirically viable - relatively low value of the elasticity of labor supply with respect to the wage.

Analysis of Household Income in Poland Based on the Zenga Distribution and Selected Income Inequality Measure

AbstractResearch background:A lot of research has been directed at describing empirical distributions by using a theoretical model. In the literature there are proposals for various types of mathematical functions. In 2010 Zenga proposed a new three-parameter model for economic size distribution which possesses interesting statistical properties which can be used to model income, wealth and financial variables.Purpose:The aim of this paper is to apply the Zenga model to income distributions in Poland by voivodeship.Research methodology:The basis for the calculations presented in the paper has been based on the individual data coming from a random sample obtained within a Household Budget Survey conducted by the central Statistical Office in the year 2014. The parameters estimates of the Zenga distribution were obtained by means of the D’Addario’s invariants methods, mainly with the Pietra index.Results:The results of the conducted approximations, presented in the paper confirmed the good consistency of the Zenga distribution with the empirical income distribution in Poland, both in total and for households.Novelty:The study contributed to the application of a new three-parameter income distribution model to describe income distributions in Poland.

Median Relative Partial Income Polarization Indices: Investigating Economic Polarization in Poland During the Years 2005\u20132015

In recent years, more and more attention has been focused on the effects of economic growth and inequality changes on income polarization, as well as on the changes in the middle income class fraction. A significant part of the literature that deals with these issues is focused on polarization indices. However, the polarization indices proposed by researchers do not allow for an assessment of impact of the income distribution changes on the disappearance of the middle income class. Moreover, the general income polarization indices do not allow for assessment of polarization within the distinguished income classes. This study proposes a class of median relative polarization partial indices, which allows for a comprehensive assessment of the median relative polarization over time, within the distinguished income classes, as well as the impact of income distribution changes (its polarization or convergence) on the change of the middle income class fraction (its disappearance or increase). Using Social Diagnosis panel data (a study carried out by the Social Monitoring Council), the proposed new tool has been used to verify the hypothesis of whether changes in the household income distribution in Poland during the years 2005–2015 have led to income polarization within the three distinguished income groups—lower, middle and upper income classes. Empirical analysis shows that despite the lack of overall polarization of incomes in the household population, there was a convergence of incomes in the upper and lower income classes and polarization of incomes within the middle income class. It implies that the income distribution has not been petrified, and as on average individuals in the lower and upper income classes tend to reduce the distance to the median income, whereas the members of the middle income class tend to be pushed out of the middle class. Moreover, the flows of households into the middle income class were higher than the outflows from this class, resulting in economic convergence, i.e. changes in income distribution leading to an increase of the middle income class fraction.

Gender differences in income distributions in Poland

The paper presents results of a descriptive analysis of income distributions as well as top income inequality among women and men in Poland. The analysis is based on the dataset provided by the Council for Social Monitoring (2019). Throughout 2003–2015 their panel survey included, for example, a question on individual net monthly income in the past three months. In order to reduce differences associated with the age of entering and exiting the labour market on declared income levels (especially pensions), the calculations include only women and men aged 25–60 years. The analysis of income distributions of women and men in Poland is based on standard measures such as mean income, median income and related measures, as well as the Gini coefficient, Theil index and entropy index. It is supplemented by kernel density estimates and results of simultaneous quantile regressions that demonstrate differences between women and men across income groups. The analysis of top income inequality includes comparisons of subsamples consisting of top 3% earners in each group. The share of women in the top percentiles is then calculated and discussed. The analysis shows different dynamics related to the incomes of women and men, which provides support for including business cycle considerations in the analysis of income inequalities and their gender aspects.

DECOMPOSITION OF GENDER WAGE GAP IN POLAND USING COUNTERFACTUAL DISTRIBUTION WITH SAMPLE SELECTION

Abstract In the paper, we compare income distributions in Poland taking into account gender differences. The gender pay gap can only be partially explained by differences in men’s and women’s characteristics. The unexplained part of the gap is usually attributed to the wage discrimination. The objective of this study is to extend the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition procedure to different quantile points along the income distribution. We use the RIF-regression method to describe differences between the incomes of men and women along the two distributions and to evaluate the strength of the influence of personal characteristics on the various parts of the income distributions. As the sample selection is a serious issue for the study, therefore our decomposition approach will be adjusted for sample selection problems. The results suggest not only differences in the income gap along the income distribution (in particular sticky floor and glass ceiling), but also differences in the contribution of selection effects to the pay gap at different quantiles. The analysis is based on data from the EU-SILC data for Poland in 2014.

Two-component structure of household income distributions in Poland

Research background: Studies of the structures of the income distributions have been performed for about 15 years. They indicate that there is no model which describes the distributions in their whole range. This effect is explained by the existence of different mechanisms yielding to low-medium and high incomes. While more than 97% of the distributions can be described by exponential or log-normal models, high incomes (about 3% or less) are in agreement with the power law.
 Purpose of the article: The aim of this paper is an analysis of the structure of the household income distributions in Poland. We verify the hypothesis about two-part structure of those distributions by using log-normal and Pareto models.
 Methods: The studies are based on the households? budgets microdata for years 2004?2012. The two-component models are used to describe the income distributions. The major parts of the distributions are described by the two parametric log-normal model. The highest incomes are described by the Pareto model. We also investigate the agreement with data of the more complex models, like Dagum, and Singh-Madalla.
 Findings & Value added: One has showed that two or three parametric models explain from about 95% to more than 99% of income distributions. The poorest agreement with data is for the log-normal model, while the best agreement has been obtained for the Dagum model. However, two-part model: log-normal for low-middle incomes and Pareto model for the highest incomes describes almost the whole range of income distributions very well.

Decomposition of Differences between Household Income Distributions in Poland in Years 2002 and 2012

In this study we present the decomposition of income inequalities between household income distributions in Poland in 2002 and 2012. The difference between two distributions may be decomposed using the counterfactual distribution, which can be constructed in various ways. Techniques such as the residual imputation approach and RIF‑regression method (recentered influence function) were considered. The application of these methods made it possible to show the aggregate detailed decompositions in different quantile points along the income distribution. The influence of several person’s characteristics on the differences in income distributions was examined. By decomposing the inequalities into the explained and unexplained components it was possible to receive additional information about their causes.

Properties of Selected Inequality Measures Based on Quantiles and Their Application to the Analysis of Income Distribution in Poland by Macroregion

Quantiles of income distributions are often applied to the estimation of various inequality, poverty and wealth characteristics. They are traditionally estimated using the classical quantile estimator based on a relevant order statistic. The main objective of the paper is to compare the classical, Huang-Brill and Bernstein estimators for these measures from the point of view of their statistical properties. Several Monte Carlo experiments were conducted to assess biases and mean squared errors of income distribution characteristics for different sample sizes under the lognormal or Dagum type-I models. The results of these experiments are used to estimate inequality, poverty and wealth measures in Poland by macroregion on the basis of micro data originating from the Household Budget Survey 2014.

DIFFERENCES IN INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN POLAND – AN ANALYSIS USING DECOMPOSITION TECHNIQUES

In the paper, we compare income distributions in Poland, taking into account gender differences. The gender pay gap can only be partially explained by differences in men’s and women’s characteristics. The unexplained part of the gap is usually attributed to the wage discrimination. The objective of the study is to extend the Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition procedure to different quantile points along the income distribution. We utilize such decomposition methods as the residual imputation approach, the reweighting approach and the RIF-regression method to describe differences between the incomes of men and women along the two distributions. We evaluate the strength of the influence of personal characteristics onto the various parts of the income distributions. The analysis is based on data from the EU-SILC data for Poland in 2014.

Nierówności dochodowe gospodarstw domowych rolników na tle innych grup społeczno-ekonomicznych w Polsce w latach 2006-2014

Badania dochodów gospodarstw domowych są istotne zarówno z punktu widzenia analiz zmian w czasie, jak też porównań rozkładów w różnych regionach geograficznych, grupach społecznych, czy typach gospodarstw. W pracy przedstawione są wyniki badań rozkładów dochodów w grupie gospodarstw domowych rolników w wybranych latach. Pozwalają one sformułować wnioski dotyczące zmian wielkości dochodów, zmian ich nierównomierności, poziomu ubóstwa, czy bogactwa na przestrzeni kilku lat. Do analiz wykorzystano miary takie jak indeks Giniego i Zengi oraz miary zróżnicowania kwintylowego, zróżnicowania skrajnych części dochodu i maksymalnego wyrównania. Badania rozkładu dochodów rozszerzono na inne grupy społeczno-ekonomiczne w celu dokonania porównań dość nietypowej grupy jaką są gospodarstwa rolników z innymi grupami wyróżnionymi przez GUS.

Assessment of the Degree of the Divergence and Inequality of Household Income Distribution in Poland in the Years 2005–2013

Abstract The increase in income and wealth inequality observed in the last decade of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century is the subject of many analyses and discussions. Research shows that major changes in household incomes in Poland took place in the early years of transition (1990–1992), known as a ‘revolution in income’. The article focuses on the assessment of the degree of household income inequality after the Poland’s accession to the European Union. The most commonly used measures in income inequality studies are the measures of inequality based on the Lorenz function – a popular Gini coefficient and the Schutz ratio, measures using the concept of entropy, measures based on welfare function, or measures based on income distribution quantiles. The article proposes the possibility of broadening the measuring spectrum of income inequality analysis of the Csiszár’s divergence measures. The main research objective of the article is to assess the divergence in the distribution of household equivalent disposable income in Poland in the years 2005–2013. The data used in the analysis come from the European Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC).

Income inequality and income stratification in Poland

Income inequality refers to the degree of income differences among various individuals or segments of a population. When the population has been partitioned into subgroups, according to some criterion, one common application of inequality measures is evaluation of the relationship between inequality in the whole population and inequality in its constituent subgroups in order to work out the within and the between subgroups contributions to the overall inequality. In the paper selected decomposition methods of the well-known Gini concentration ratio were discussed and applied to the analysis of income distribution in Poland. The aim of the analysis was to verify to what extent the inequality in different subpopulations contributes to the overall income inequality in Poland and to what extent their members form distinct segments or strata. To provide the decomposition of the Gini index the population of households was partitioned into several socio-economic groups on the basis of the exclusive or primary source of maintenance. Moreover, the households were divided by economic regions using the Eurostat classification units NUTS 1 as well as by family type defined by the number of children.

Estimation of Concentration Measures and Their Standard Errors for Income Distributions in Poland

Measures of concentration (inequality) are often used in the analysis of income and wage size distributions. Among, them the Gini and Zenga coefficients are of greatest importance. It is well known that income inequality in Poland increased significantly in the period of transformation from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. High income inequality can be a source of serious problems, such as increasing poverty, social stratification, and polarization. Therefore, it seems especially important to present reliable estimates of income inequality measures for a population of households in Poland in different divisions. In this paper, some estimation methods for Gini and Zenga concentration measures are presented together with their application to the analysis of income distributions in Poland by socio-economic groups. The basis for the calculations was individual data coming from the Polish Household Budget Survey conducted by the Central Statistical Office. The standard errors of Gini and Zenga coefficients were estimated by means of the bootstrap and the parametric approach based on the Dagum model.

Three-Year Results of the Poland's Accession to the European Union - An Analysis of Changes of the Selected Indices

Last three years brought significant changes in the Polish economy. Poland’s accession to the European Union in May 2004 has strongly affected all sectors of the economy. Those changes were expected before EU enlargement, but not precisely assessed. Before Poland joined EU, many estimations and analysis of the implications of the EU enlargement for new-comers were made. For example, on the basis of traditional as well as new theories of international trade E. Czarny and G. Lang (2001) concluded that human capital and capital intensive industries suffer after first of May 2004, concurrently income distribution in Poland significantly changes after all. From the present point of view, and three year experience of EU membership, there is a proper stage for evaluation of the short-run effects of the Poland’s EU accession. Recent changes in Polish economy are assessed in terms of the labor market, international trade, and labor productivity. Comparing the previous findings, based mostly on the theories of trade, to the statistics of changes of the Polish economy in 2005 and 2006, we pointed out some conclusions concerning how expectations, assumptions and theoretical simulations are able to foreseen real economies of integration.

Entrepreneurship and the evolution of income distributions in Poland and Russia

Differences in the evolution of Polish and Russian income distributions in the post-socialist era can be attributed to different rates of entry of new enterprises. Using regional differences during early privatization as instruments to estimate the impact of this entry, we find that a one-standard-deviation increase in the share of the workforce in new or small enterprises increases the share of income earned by the lowest forty percent of the population by 1.4% and by 1.25% in Polish and Russian regions, respectively. Poland's greater success in de novo firm entry contributes to its more equitable income distribution during the transition. Journal of Comparative Economics 34 (2) (2006) 338–356.

Evidence of a New Shape of Income Distribution in Poland

(1994). Evidence of a New Shape of Income Distribution in Poland. Eastern European Economics: Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 32-51.

Questions of Income Distribution in Poland

The breakdown in Poland's economic development has been accompanied by exacerbation of income distribution problems. The agreements between the government and the new trade unions have precipitated a specific wages revolution. Workers' pay has grown much more rapidly than that of salary earners. With changes in pay have gone shifts in incomes between town and country and uncontrolled redistribution stemming from market disorganization. The planned overhaul of retail prices which forms part of a general economic reform requires the creation of a 'welfare screen' to protect the lowest-earning groups.

Economic reform and income distribution in Poland: the negative evidence

Journal Article Economic reform and income distribution in Poland: the negative evidence Get access Henryk Flakierski Henryk Flakierski *Professor of Economics, York UniversityToronto Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Cambridge Journal of Economics, Volume 5, Issue 2, June 1981, Pages 137–158, https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordjournals.cje.a035476 Published: 01 June 1981