Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/35336
Year of Publication: 
2008
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 3790
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
In this paper, we define a new class of richness measures. In contrast to the often used headcount, these new measures are sensitive to changes in rich persons' income and therefore allow for a more sophisticated analysis of richness. We demonstrate the application of these new measures to analyze the development of poverty and richness over time in Germany, to compare Germany to many other European countries and to investigate the impact of tax reforms on poverty and richness. Using these examples, we show the importance of taking into account the intensity of changes and not only the number of people beyond a given richness line (headcount). We propose to use the new measures in addition to the headcount index for a more comprehensive analysis of richness.
Subjects: 
Richness
affluence
poverty
tax reform
flat tax
JEL: 
D31
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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