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Toward a Uniform Definition of Household Income
Author(s) -
Smeeding Timothy M.,
Weinberg Daniel H.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
review of income and wealth
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.024
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1475-4991
pISSN - 0034-6586
DOI - 10.1111/1475-4991.00001
Subject(s) - microdata (statistics) , economics , perspective (graphical) , income distribution , net national income , measures of national income and output , distribution (mathematics) , national accounts , comprehensive income , public economics , macroeconomics , gross income , computer science , sociology , population , inequality , mathematical analysis , demography , mathematics , tax reform , artificial intelligence , census , state income tax
By marrying a “top‐down” national income‐based approach with a “bottom‐up” microdata approach, and a national income accounting perspective with a theoretical perspective, this article attempts to provide a unified framework for aggregating income types to create an income definition that enables researchers to make valid comparisons across nations. An examination of several national household income surveys shows that it is next to impossible to quantify all elements of any new definition in a way that makes international comparisons easy. The framework nonetheless illuminates the differences in current practice and allows researchers to assess the effect of those differences on income distribution measures.