Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/171295 
Year of Publication: 
2017
Series/Report no.: 
SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research No. 926
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper presents a methodology for comparing income rank volatility profiles over time and across distributions. While most of the existing measures are affected by changes in marginal distributions, this paper proposes a framework that is based on individuals' relative positions in the distribution, and is neutral in relation to structural changes that occur in the economy. Applying this approach to investigate rank volatility in Germany and the US over three decades, we show that while poorer individuals within both countries are the most volatile, the volatility trend for the middle class in each of these countries differs.
Subjects: 
rank volatility
income
risk
inequality
middle class
Germany
US
JEL: 
D31
J6
I30
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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