note: Inequality and the business cycle: A consumption viewpoint

David S. Johnson () and Stephanie Shipp ()
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David S. Johnson: Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of the Census, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Room 3105, Washington, DC 20212, USA
Stephanie Shipp: Bureau of Labor Statistics, and Bureau of the Census, 2 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Room 3105, Washington, DC 20212, USA

Empirical Economics, 1999, vol. 24, issue 1, 173-180

Abstract: Using Consumer Expenditure Survey data, we obtain summary measures of the distributions of income and consumption for each quarter between 1980 and 1994. We find that the trends in the distribution of income and consumption and the response of these trends to changes in inflation and unemployment were similar during this period. We find that unemployment does not significantly affect the inequality measures and that inflation has a progressive effect, i.e., that a decrease in inflation is associated with an increase in inequality. Finally, we find that the relationship between inequality and macroeconomic variables during the 1990s may be similar to the relationship that existed prior to 1980.

Keywords: Inequality; ·; consumption; ·; inflation; ·; unemployment (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D12 D31 E32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1999-02-11
Note: received: September 1996/final version received: September 1997
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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