Current Population Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the Consumer Expenditure Survey, and the Survey of Consumer … earnings, to disposable income, and, ultimately, to consumption and wealth. We document a continuous and sizable increase in … before 1982, but mitigate its increase thereafter. Taxes and transfers compress the level of income inequality, especially at …

Economic Commentary explores inequality in income and consumption and asks whether inequality is determined early in life …

Recent research indicates that the marked increase in U.S. income inequality over the last twenty-five years has not … to the labor literature estimates that put households' average annual transitory income variance at about $2,200. Our … calculations show a significant elasticity of maintenance and repair expenditures to transitory income shocks. The elasticities are …

We propose a model that recognizes hierarchical goods and income inequality among households. The model demonstrates … that growth is impacted not by inequality per se, but "absolute" income distribution or the level of poverty underlying the … income distribution. Specifically, when a large fraction of the population is below the threshold income necessary for …

Using data from the Consumer Expenditure Survey, we first document that the recent increase in income inequality in the … different trends in within-group inequality, which has increased significantly for income but little for consumption. We then … develop a simple framework that allows us to analytically characterize how within-group income inequality affects consumption …

This chapter discusses the large literature and numerous issues regarding education-related differences in income in …. Following the 1940 Decennial Census, which collected information on educational attainment and on earned income and time worked … 1950s/early 1960s greatly expanded the research on education and income and shifted the focus to wages. The human capital …