The Trends of Income Distribution in West Germany

Albert Jeck
Additional contact information
Albert Jeck: University of Munich

Chapter Chapter 3 in The Distribution of National Income, 1968, pp 78-114 from Palgrave Macmillan

Abstract: Abstract Empirical investtigation into the growth and distribution of national income in the long term runs into greater difficulties in Germany than elsewhere. The particularism of individual Federal States with their different tax systems, the two World Wars, the subsequent extremes of inflation and repeated territorial changes, combined with long-lasting scepticism on the part of theorists and official statisticians with regard to such enquiries have left us today with at the best fragments of a reliable picture of national income accounts.1 The Statistisches Reichsamt (Reich Statistical Office) calculated the national income of the German Reich for the first time in 1925, and thereafter continuously until 1940. The method used was based in the main on income distributed, which means that detailed information on income distribution is given. The Statistisches Bundesamts (Federal Statistical Office), however, has based its national income calculations since 1950 mainly on the net output method.2 Distribution aspects play a secondary role and the information given is less detailed than in the pre-war period — much to the annoyance of distribution theorists. The following is an attempt in the face of these difficulties to make a reasonably accurate reconstruction of the trends of ‘functional’ income distribution in Germany since about 1875.

Keywords: Income Distribution; National Income; Average Income; Capital Asset; Relative Share (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1968
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pal:intecp:978-1-349-15245-2_3

Ordering information: This item can be ordered from
http://www.palgrave.com/9781349152452

DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-15245-2_3

Access Statistics for this chapter

More chapters in International Economic Association Series from Palgrave Macmillan
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().