Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/18433 
Year of Publication: 
2005
Series/Report no.: 
DIW Discussion Papers No. 540
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper delivers new insights into the development of income inequality and regional stratification in Germany after unification using a new method for detecting social stratification by a decomposition of the GINI index which yields the obligatory between- and withingroup components as well as an ?overlapping? index for the different sup-populations. We apply this method together with a jackknife estimation of standard errors. We find that East Germany is still a stratum on its own when using post-government income, but since 2001 no longer is when using pre-government income. These results remain stable when using alternatively defined regional classifications. However, there are also indications of some regional variation within West Germany. Overall, these findings are important for the political discussion with respect to a potential regional concentration of future transfers from East to West Germany.
Subjects: 
Inequality Decomposition
Gini
Stratification
German Unification
Regional Disparities
SOEP
JEL: 
D31
C81
D63
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
528 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.