This Briefing Note provides an analysis of the characteristics of high-income individuals and how their incomes have evolved over time. We begin by setting out recent trends in overall income inequality and why these lead us to focus on the pattern of income growth at the very top of the income...

In April 2010 the UK's marginal rate of income tax above £150,000 was increased from 40% to 50%, affecting the highest-income 0.66% of the adult population (and 1% of income taxpayers). This would seem an ideal opportunity to obtain an estimate of the taxable income elasticity, but...

We investigate bunching at personal tax thresholds over a 40-year period. At kinks, where the marginal tax rate rises, we find bunching among company owner-managers and the self-employed, but not those with only employment income. Notches, where the average rate rises, provide compelling...

Using a large and novel administrative dataset, this paper investigates variation in returnsto different higher education ‘degrees’ (subject-institution combinations) in the United King-dom. Conditioning on a rich set background characteristics, it finds substantial variation inreturns, even...

Policy-makers have increasingly turned to ‘in-work transfers’ to boost incomes among poorer workers and strengthen work incentives. One attraction of these is that labour supply elasticities are typically greatest at the extensive margin. Because in-work transfers are normally subject to...

Social housing providers - local authorities and housing associations - fulfil at least three functions: building housing, acting as landlord and delivering subsidised rent levels. This report focuses on the last of these. Specifically, we analyse the consequences for tenants, social housing...