Recounting Winners and Losers in the 1980s: A Critique of Income Distribution Measurement Methodology

Author(s)/Creator(s)

Richard V. Burkhauser, Syracuse University
Amy D. Crews, University of North Alabama
Mary C. Daly, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Description/Abstract

The 1980s have been characterized as a time when the “rich got richer and the poor got poorer.” Using a cross-over point methodology used in several recent studies, we show how sensitive the measurement of winners and losers can be to seemingly small differences in methodological practice. Specifically, we show sensitivity to the years compared, the income sharing unit chosen, and the inflation index used. Our results show that these and other studies of economic well-being exaggerate losses by mixing cyclical with cross-cycle effects

Document Type

Working Paper

Date

8-1996

Language

English

Funder(s)

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Funding ID

1-PO1-AG09743-01

Series

Income Security Policy Series

Disciplines

Economic Policy | Economics | Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration | Public Policy

ISSN

1061 1843

Additional Information

Policy studies paper no.13

Recommended Citation

Burkhauser, Richard V.; Crews, Amy D.; and Daly, Mary C., "Recounting Winners and Losers in the 1980s: A Critique of Income Distribution Measurement Methodology" (1996). Center for Policy Research. 403.
https://surface.syr.edu/cpr/403

Source

Local Input

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.