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

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Leigh, Andrew; van der Eng, Pierre
• 署名单位: Australian National University; Australian National University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2008.09.005
• 发表日期: 2009
• 页码: 209-212
• 关键词: inequality; Top incomes; Personal income taxation; Indonesia

摘要

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. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.