Rising top-income persistence in Australia: Evidence from income tax data

Nicolas Hérault, Dean Hyslop, Stephen Jenkins and Roger Wilkins ()

Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series from Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne

Abstract: We use a new Australian longitudinal income tax dataset, Alife, covering 1991–2017, to examine levels and trends in the persistence in top-income group membership, focussing on the top 1%. We summarize persistence in multiple ways, documenting levels and trends in rates of remaining in top-income groups; re-entry to the top; the income changes associated with top-income transitions; and we also compare top-income persistence rates for annual and ‘permanent’ incomes. Regardless of the perspective taken, top-income persistence increased markedly over the period, with most of the increase occurring in the mid-2000s and early 2010s. In the mid- to late-2010s, Australian top-income persistence rates appear to have been near the top of the range of tax-data estimates for other countries. Using univariate breakdowns and multivariate regression, we show that the rise in top-income persistence in Australia was experienced by many population subgroups.

Keywords: top incomes; income mobility; top-income persistence (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C81 D31 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55pp
Date: 2021-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ltv
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/a ... 916974/wp2021n20.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Rising top‐income persistence in Australia: Evidence from income tax data (2024)
Working Paper: Rising top-income persistence in Australia: evidence from income tax data (2022)
Working Paper: Rising top-income persistence in Australia: evidence from income tax data (2021)
Working Paper: Rising Top-Income Persistence in Australia: Evidence from Income Tax Data (2021)
Working Paper: Rising Top-Income Persistence in Australia: Evidence from Income Tax Data (2021)
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