Abstract
This article explains how the compilation of distributional results in line with national accounts’ totals may assist in overcoming some of the challenges faced by micro data statistics in measuring inequality, including capturing the top tail. As national accounts rely on a harmonised system of concepts and definitions in which multiple data sources are brought together in order to arrive at comprehensive, coherent and consistent results, they may capture elements that may be missing from underlying statistics and may provide more reliable estimates for items that may be more prone to quality issues in underlying statistics. This implies that aligning micro data to national accounts totals may improve the overall quality of distributional results, mainly depending on the way in which any gaps between the micro and macro data are allocated to underlying households. This article provides an overview of possible underlying reasons for the micro-macro gaps, including the issue of the missing rich, and provides guidance on how to deal with them in order to arrive at the best possible distributional results.
Keywords: Distributional results, Households, Micro data, National Accounts
Data Availability
Data from the EG DNA project are available in the public database from the OECD: https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=EGDNA_PUBLIC. The data underlying Table 1 are available from the corresponding author upon request.
Declarations
Competing Interests
The authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.
Footnotes
The opinions expressed and arguments employed in this article are those of the author and should not be reported as representing the official views of the OECD or of its members.
Publisher’s Note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
References
- European Commission . International Monetary Fund, Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development, United Nations, World Bank. New York: System of National Accounts 2008; 2009. [Google Scholar]
- Fesseau M, Mattonetti M. Distributional measures across household groups in a national accounts framework: Results from an experimental cross-country exercise on household income, consumption and saving. OECD Statistics Working Papers, No. 2013/04. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2013. [Google Scholar]
- Grilli, J., Zwijnenburg, J, Engelbrecht, P: Distributional National Accounts – The importance of capturing the top tail (2022) [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed]
- Lakner, C., Milanovic, B: Global Income Distribution - From the fall of the Berlin Wall to the Great Recession. Policy Research Working Paper, No. 6719, World Bank (2013). https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/16935/WPS6719.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
- Meyer, B., Mok, W., Sullivan, J: The Under-Reporting of Transfers in Household Surveys: its Nature and Consequences (2009). https://www.nber.org/papers/w15181
- OECD: Distributional Information on Household Income, Consumption and Saving in Line with National Accounts – Guidelines – Version December (2020). https://www.oecd.org/sdd/na/OECD-EG-DNA-Guidelines.pdf
- Vermeulen P. How fat is the top tail of the wealth distribution? Rev. Income Wealth. 2018;64(2):357–387. doi: 10.1111/roiw.12279. [DOI] [Google Scholar]
- Zwijnenburg, J.: Further enhancing the work on household distributional data – techniques for bridging gaps between micro and macro results and nowcasting methodologies for compiling more timely results. Paper presented at the 2016 General IARIW Conference in Dresden (2016). www.iariw.org/dresden/zwijnenburg.pdf
- Zwijnenburg J, Bournot S, Giovannelli F. Expert Group on Disparities in a National Accounts framework: Results from the 2015 exercise. OECD Statistics Working Papers, No. 2016/10. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2016. [Google Scholar]
- Zwijnenburg J, Bournot S, Grahn D, Guidetti E. Distribution of household income, consumption and saving in line with national accounts – Methodology and results from the 2020 collection round. OECD Statistics Working Papers, No. 2021/01. Paris: OECD Publishing; 2021. [Google Scholar]
Associated Data
This section collects any data citations, data availability statements, or supplementary materials included in this article.
Data Availability Statement
Data from the EG DNA project are available in the public database from the OECD: https://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=EGDNA_PUBLIC. The data underlying Table 1 are available from the corresponding author upon request.