Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/334601 
Year of Publication: 
2025
Series/Report no.: 
CESifo Working Paper No. 12245
Publisher: 
Munich Society for the Promotion of Economic Research - CESifo GmbH, Munich
Abstract: 
Is income inequality in the United States primarily driven by disparities between ethnic groups or within them? Contrary to conventional wisdom, this study uncovers a striking and transformative empirical regularity: an overwhelming 96% of contemporary inequality arises from disparities within groups sharing a common ancestral origin, dwarfing the comparatively minor contribution of inequality between groups. This extraordinary pattern persists across time, educational attainment, demographic characteristics, and geographic regions. The findings represent a shift in the empirical understanding of inequality in the United States, revealing that the deepest and most persistent economic divides run within, rather than between, ethnic communities.
Subjects: 
inequality
ethnicity
within group inequality
between group inequality
JEL: 
O15
Z13
D63
J15
Document Type: 
Working Paper
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