Rising Top-Income Persistence in Australia: Evidence from Income Tax Data

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

No 14737, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

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: income mobility; top-income persistence; top incomes (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C81 D31 I31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 55 pages
Date: 2021-09
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-lab and nep-ltv
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Published - published in: Review of Income and Wealth , 2024, 70 (1), 154-186

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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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