Publication type
Conference Paper
Series
Society for the Study of Economic Inequality Conference
Authors
Publication date
July 12, 2007
Abstract:
The March Current Population Survey (CPS) is the primary data source for estimation of levels and trends in labor earnings and income inequality in the USA. Time-inconsistency problems related to top coding in theses data have led many researchers to use the ratio of the 90th and 10th percentiles of these distributions (P90/P10) rather than a more traditional summary measure of inequality. With access to public use and restricted-access internal CPS data, and bounding methods, we show that using P90/P10 does not completely obviate time-inconsistency problems, especially for household income inequality trends. Using internal data, we create consistent cell mean values for all top-coded public use values that, when used with public use data, closely track inequality trends in labor earnings and household income using internal data. But estimates of longer-term inequality trends with these corrected data based on P90/P10 differ from those based on the Gini coefficient. The choice of inequality measure matters.
Related Publications
-
Using the P90/P10 Index to Measure US Inequality Trends with Current Population Survey Data: A View from Inside the Census Bureau Vaults
Richard Burkhauser, Shuaizhang Feng, Stephen P. Jenkins,Journal Article - 20090301
-
Using the P90/P10 Index to Measure US Inequality Trends with Current Population Survey Data: A View from Inside the Census Bureau Vaults
Richard Burkhauser, Shuaizhang Feng, Stephen P. Jenkins,Conference Paper - 20071025
-
Using the P90/P10 Index to Measure US Inequality Trends with Current Population Survey Data: A View from Inside the Census Bureau Vaults
Richard Burkhauser, Shuaizhang Feng, Stephen P. Jenkins,Conference Paper - 20070605
-
Using the P90/P10 index to measure US inquality trends with current population survey data: a view from inside the Census Bureau vaults
Richard V. Burkhauser, Shuaizhang Feng, Stephen P. Jenkins,ISER Working Paper Series - 20070602
#518231