Inequality in Indonesia: What can we learn from top incomes?

Andrew Leigh and Pierre van der Eng

Journal of Public Economics, 2009, vol. 93, issue 1-2, 209-212

Abstract: Abstract Using taxation and household survey data, this paper estimates top income shares for Indonesia during 1920-2004. Our results suggest that top income shares grew during the 1920s and 1930s, but fell in the post-war era. We observe a sharp rise in top income shares during the late-1990s, coinciding with the 1997-98 economic crisis. Where comparable data are available, top income shares in Indonesia are generally higher than in other countries, a finding that is at odds with the view that Indonesia is a relatively egalitarian society. This suggests that top income shares may provide a more complete picture of developing country inequality in comparative perspective.

Keywords: Inequality; Top; incomes; Personal; income; taxation; Indonesia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (55)

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Working Paper: Top Incomes in Indonesia, 1920-2004 (2007)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:93:y:2009:i:1-2:p:209-212

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