Size Distribution Of Personal Income Research Articles

On moment indeterminacy of the Benini income distribution

The Benini distribution is a lognormal-like distribution generalizing the Pareto distribution. Like the Pareto and the lognormal distributions it was originally proposed for modeling economic size distributions, notably the size distribution of personal income. This paper explores a probabilistic property of the Benini distribution, showing that it is not determined by the sequence of its moments although all the moments are finite. It also provides explicit examples of distributions possessing the same set of moments. Related distributions are briefly explored.

Macroeconomic Conditions and the Size Distribution of Income: Evidence from the United Kingdom

In order to understand observed changes over time in the size distribution of personal income, the influence of macroeconomic conditions must be explored. Only by tracing these shorter-term influences can we distinguish the longer-term structural factors that are also at work in altering the distribution. In addition, it is of crucial importance in the assessment of macroeconomic policy to know how the costs and benefits of macroeconomic developments and alternative policy responses are distributed. This article presents an analysis of the main factors linking macroeconomic conditions and the size distribution of income, based on data for the United Kingdom. This proves to be a particularly appropriate case for study, with dramatic changes in both the macroeconomy and the size distribution in recent years, and also with a database that permits a variety of approaches to the problem. The paper begins by outlining the major channels whereby changes in the macroeconomy are likely to feed through to the size distribution of income, and the approaches taken in previous analyses of this relationship-almost all based on U.S. data. Section 3 looks at one of these approaches, the analysis of time-series data on macroeconomic aggregates and the income distribution, and presents results for the United Kingdom corresponding to those for the United States produced by The author is a researcher at the Economic and Social Research Institute, 4 Burlington Road, Dublin 4, Ireland.

Agricultural development and the size distribution of personal income: The tropical African experience

We use data from a sample of countries in Tropical Africa to investigate the relationship between relative income and growth rate of the agricultural sector and income inequality. We find that an increase in the income of the agricultural sector relative to that of the non-agricultural sector decreases income inequality. The growth rate of agricultural production and the proportion of the labor force in the non-agricultural sector were also found to be negatively correlated with income inequality.

Comment on ‘Cyclical and secular influences on the size distribution of personal income in the UK: some econometric tests’ by G. Weil

(1986). Comment on ‘Cyclical and secular influences on the size distribution of personal income in the UK: some econometric tests’ by G. Weil. Applied Economics: Vol. 18, No. 10, pp. 1103-1107.

The Distribution of Income and Wealth of Farm Operator Households

Because of the relatively low incomes of people associated with farming in the past, income maintenance has been a major focus of farm policy. The average money income of families earning farm self-employment income in 1983 was 93% of the average money income of other U.S. families (USDC). However, an average income of farm households has lost much of its meaning because it masks a great deal of variation. Compared to the past, farm households represent a heterogenous population, presenting a new challenge to policy makers concerned about framing income maintenance policies. The current farm bill debate began in 1984 amidst piecemeal information on increased bankruptcies and general financial stress of farms. Analysis of the financial leverage and cash flow positions of farm businesses has since been forthcoming (Johnson, Baum, and Prescott). However, information on the financial well-being of those households associated with farming has remained limited. The purpose of this paper is to describe the financial well-being of farm operator households by measuring their size distribution of personal income and farm equity in 1984. The contribution of each source of income to the total inequality of incomes is also analyzed.

Size Distribution of Personal Income and Corresponding Consumer Expenditure (For 1964-65, 1968-69 and 1975-76)

An attempt is made in this paper to derive the size distribution of Personal Income for rural, urban and All India (rural plus urban) for the years 1964-65, 1968-69 and 1975-76. Unlike the developed countries, adequate data on size distribution of income and expenditure in India are not available inspite of several attempts made from time to time on this subject.

Cyclical and secular influences on the size distribution of personal income in the UK: some econometric tests

(1984). Cyclical and secular influences on the size distribution of personal income in the UK: some econometric tests. Applied Economics: Vol. 16, No. 5, pp. 749-756.

Wages, minimum wages, and income distribution in Brazil: Results from the construction industry

Critics of post-1964 economic policy in Brazil have argued that the decline of at least 25% in the real value of the government-determined minimum wage between 1964 and 1974 was an important factor accounting for increasing inequality in the size distribution of personal income observed during this period. This paper reports the results of a new test of this proposition, using cross-section and time series wage rate statistics for the Brazilian construction industry. The results suggest that the official minimum wage plays an important signalling role in wage-determination, acting as a standard of reference for the setting of the wage-rates of the least skilled manual workers in the Brazilian construction industry. The results, therefore, confirm the view that minimum wage policy in Brazil is influential in determining the size distribution of earned income.