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Lifetime Versus Annual Income Distribution

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Handbook of Income Inequality Measurement

Part of the book series: Recent Economic Thought Series ((RETH,volume 71))

Abstract

Any attempt to measure income inequality must begin by making decisions regarding the unit of analysis, the income concept and the time period. These are not independent issues, but the present chapter concentrates on the last two, treating the unit as a single individual. As with the choice of an inequality measure, value judgements cannot be avoided, so no attempt is made to argue that any solution is “superior” to others. This chapter has two aims. First, it provides a very selective review of studies concerned with the relationship between single and multi-period measures. Second, the use of a longer period raises the question of the appropriate income concept; the choice includes present values, annual averages and types of annuity. Alternative measures are discussed and comparisons are made using a simulation model. It is worth stressing that many approaches to the study of lifetime inequality have been strongly influenced by the lack of appropriate data.

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Authors
  1. John Creedy
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Bar-Ilan University, Israel

    Jacques Silber

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© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York

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Creedy, J. (1999). Lifetime Versus Annual Income Distribution. In: Silber, J. (eds) Handbook of Income Inequality Measurement. Recent Economic Thought Series, vol 71. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4413-1_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-4413-1_18

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5897-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-011-4413-1

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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