Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/61209 
Year of Publication: 
2012
Series/Report no.: 
SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research No. 464
Publisher: 
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW), Berlin
Abstract: 
This paper presents and compares trends in income inequality in Switzerland and Germany from 2000 to 2009 using harmonized data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and the Swiss Household Panel (SHP). Whereas in Germany inequality has increased substantially during this period, in Switzerland inequality in market incomes has increased only marginally and inequality in disposable incomes has decreased slightly. Economic and demographic indicators suggest that labor market participation - but not economic growth, globalization, or sectoral change - are potential explanations. The decomposition of inequality reveals the effects of Germany's slightly older population and smaller household sizes, as well as the impact of educational expansion and government redistribution.
Subjects: 
Income inequality
subgroup decomposition
income stratification
income mobility
SOEP
SHP
JEL: 
I31
D31
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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