Subjective well-being (SWB) is generally argued to rise with relative income. However, direct evidence is scarce on whether and how intensively individuals undertake income comparisons, to whom they relate, and what they perceive their relative income to be. In this paper, novel data with direct...

This paper analyzes the effect of the introduction of a final withholding tax on capital income on the progression of the German income tax. As previous literature shows, even with synthetic income taxation, tax progression was strongest in the middle of the income distribution, and decreased...

Numerous studies analyze gender wage differences focusing on gross hourly wages. The analysis of differences in gross wages allows statements on productivity differences between men and women and to quantify the unexplainable wage gap which is often attributed to discrimination. While there is...

Marriage is one of the most important determinants of economic prosperity, yet most existing theories of inequality ignore the role of the family. This paper documents that the cross-sectional distributions of earnings and wealth display a high degree of concentration, even when disaggregated...

We develop a quantitative framework in which income inequality arises endogenously in response to productivity shocks. The framework accommodates sectoral inputoutput linkages, arbitrary elasticities of factors and intermediates, and heterogeneous workers that endogenously choose to supply their...

In this paper we explore the possibility of the application of GAMLSS regression techniques for the analysis of income distributions in Germany following the reunification. We find that conditional income distributions can generally be modelled using the three parameter Dagum distribution and...