tr 256_top income shares in greece
Post on 04-Apr-2018
220 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
1/28
1
Top Income Shares in Greece: 1957-2009
K. Chrissis, A. Livada, P. Tsakloglou
Athens University of Economics and Business
Technical Report No 256
ATHENS UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS
DEPARTMENT OF STATISTICS
2011
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
2/28
2
Abstract
The main objective of this discussion paper is the estimation of top income shares in
Greece for the period 1957-2009. The compilation procedure is according to the
Piketty (2001) approach for 1%, 0,5% and 0,1% top income shares. To the best of our
knowledge, this is the first attempt for the implementation of the Piketty approach in
Greek tabulated tax data. A comparison of the findings with results from other
countries is presented.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
3/28
3
Top Income Shares in Greece: 1957-2009
1. Introduction
Current literature on income distribution utilizes tax data in order to study top income
shares. Atkinson (2007) notes the revival of interest in the study of the distribution of
top incomes using income tax data. Saez and Veall (2007) argue that the only source
of income distribution of upper income groups for an extended period of time is tax
data. In the same context Atkinson and Leigh (2007) note that income taxation
statistics provide a quantitative basis for measuring the trends whereas Feenberg and
Poterba (2000) state that tax returns are the most reliable source of information on the
incomes of high-income households. Dell (2007) and Atkinson (2005) argue that there
are specific limitations of the household surveys and their estimations for top end ofincome distribution. Finally, Piketty (2007) notes that the only data source that is
consistently available on the long-run basis is tax data.
In the present paper, the estimations of 1%, 0,5% and 0,1% upper shares of income
distribution will be compiled for the period 1957-2009. The structure of the study is
the following: Chapter 2 describes the data sources and the methodology used; the
results are illustrated in Chapter 3 whereas in Chapter 4 an international comparison is
presented. Finally Chapter 5 describes the main conclusions and the Annex contains
technical details of the previous chapters.
2. Data and Methodology
This chapter describes the data sources and the methodology used for the estimation
of Top Income Shares. The interested reader could see the Annex for more technical
and analytical reference of data sources and description of the techniques.
2.1 Data
Tax data provide detailed information on nominal family income and its sources, asreported annually in tax declaration forms. Family income is the sum of income
received by the husband and/or wife. This definition also includes single persons.
These data are compiled by the Tax Authorities and have been published annually by
the National Statistical Service of Greece (NSGG, now ELSTAT) since 1958. From
2003 onwards the publication is conducted by General Secretariat of Informatics
Systems of Ministry of Finance.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
4/28
4
Total family income is the sum of one or more of the following components1
a) Income from employmentb) Income from buildings and lease of landc) Income from securitiesd)
Income from commercial and industrial enterprisese) Income from agricultural enterprises
f) Income from self-employmentg) Income from abroad
The tax declarations are submitted in the following year of the year of reference. The
term economic year t refers to income that was acquired in the previous year. Thus,
economic year 2010 refers to the calendar year 2009. Tax data are reported in
tabulated form (grouped tax data). During the whole period the number of classes has
changed, being more analytical in the latter years.
2.2 Methodology
There are certain methodological problems addressed to the estimation of the top
income shares when grouped tax data are utilized. The first problem is that the
thresholds of income shares do not coincide with the percentiles, so interpolation
estimation is required. The second issue is the need to relate the number of persons to
a control total in order to estimate the percentage of units that represents the top
income share. The third problem refers to the definition of income and the relation to
an income control total used as the denominator in the top income share estimation.These issues are presented in the following sections, where the interpolation
technique, the control total for population and control total for income are described.
2.2.1 Interpolation
The issue with the tabulated tax data is that the thresholds of income classes do not
coincide with the percentiles which are necessary for the estimation of top income
shares. The standard approach to tackle this issue is the utilization of the Pareto
distribution that is assuming the top end of income distribution is well described by
the Pareto distribution. Specifically, Vilfredo Pareto (1896, 1896-97) noticed that top
incomes fit remarkably well under the assumption of Pareto distribution using tax
tabulations from Swiss cantons. The first economist to use these data and
methodology in a systematic way was Kuznets (1953); the empirical findings resulted
in the famous Kuznets curve theory (1955) according to which income inequality
should follow an inverse U-shape along the development process, first rising with
1
Category (b) is the merging of two categories after 1984 (economic year 1985): Income frombuildings and Income from lease of land excluding buildings. Also category (d) is divided in two sub-
categories for the years 1976-1998 according to the type of the enterprise.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
5/28
5
industrialization and then declining, as more and more workers join the high
productivity sectors of the economy.
Pareto extrapolation techniques have been used by several researchers such as
Feenberg and Poterba (1993), Piketty (2001, 2003, 2007), Piketty and Saez (2001,
2003, 2007), Saez and Veall (2007), Dell (2007), Dell, Piketty and Saez (2007),Nolan (2007), Banerjee and Piketty (2010), Piketty and Qian (2010), Alvaredo and
Saez (2010), Alvaredo (2010) and Alvaredo and Pisano (2010).
The Pareto distribution specifies that the probability that a randomly chosen
taxpayers income is described2
by:
1-F(y) = (k>0, a>1)
The two parameters are k, the minimum income that the Pareto distribution applies to
(k>0) and a, the exponent that determines the shape of the distribution.
The density f(y) of the distribution therefore has the form f(y) = /. If thedistribution of taxable income has this form, then the average income y * (y) of the
households whose income is greater than y is given by:
y*(y) = [ /[ = [ / ]/ [ /
] = ay/(a-1)
According to the Pareto law the ratio y * (y) /y is equal to a constant b = a/ (a-1), that
is the ratio of average income y * (y) of households (or tax units or individuals) with
income above y to y does not depend on the income threshold y.
It is noted that a higher b coefficient means a fatter upper tail of the income
distribution, which generally implies higher inequality (for a constant mean).
Certain interpolation techniques are described in Atkinson (2005, 2007). In this
chapter the Pikettty (2001) approach for Pareto procedure is used.
2.2.2 Control Total for Population.
Control total for population is needed since the amount of fillers of tax returns were
low especially in the beginning of the period under investigation. Additionally the
definition of the tax unit does not coincide with the individuals, since the tax unit is
defined as a married couple living together with dependent children (without
independent income) or as a single adult with dependent children. The control total
used is the population over the age of 20 minus half the number of the married men
and women. The data sources are the Concise Statistical Yearbooks and the Censuses
of Population. For the years that no data are available linear interpolation techniques
are applied. Certain variations of this specific control total for population have been2
For details see Piketty (2001, 2007) and Piketty and Saez (2007)
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
6/28
6
applied by several researchers [Atkinson (2005), Piketty and Saez (2001, 2003),
Piketty (2001, 2003) and the studies included in the two volumes edited by Atkinson
and Piketty (2007, 2010)]
2.2.3 Control Total for Income.
To estimate shares in total income a control total for aggregate income is needed. Two
approaches are commonly applied. One approach starts from the income tax and adds
the income of those not covered (the so called non-fillers). The second approach
starts from an external control total, typically derived from the national accounts. This
is a standard approach employed by Kuznets (1953) and used by many researchers in
historical studies of income inequality [Piketty (2001, 2003), Piketty and Saez (2001,
2003) and the majority of the studies included in the two volumes edited by Atkinson
and Piketty (2007, 2010)].
There are certain differences in the definition and coverage of income in the national
accounts versus income tax statistics. Nevertheless, the national accounts figures are
correlated with income tax data, since the latter are one of the sources used in the
compilation procedure of national accounts. In order to produce series that are
comparable (to the best possible extent) with the declared tax income certain
transactions of the Households Sector were utilized. These transactions (from the
scope of received incomethat is Resources) are the Wages, Property Income, Social
Benefits (mainly pensions of all kinds; main and auxiliary) and Other Current
Transfers. Employers actual social contributions, employers imputed social
contributions and Subsidies are not included. The series used have been compiled byELSTAT for the years 1988-1995 (mixed system), 1995-2000 (ESA95), 2000-2008
(ESA95 base year 2000) and 2005-2009 (ESA 95 base year 2005). The Wages
illustrate gross income meaning that the employees social contributions are included.
These amounts are deducted from the Wages for the years 1988-2009. The net income
of self employed is not captured by the figures mentioned so far. From the National
Accounts point of view, this income is incorporated into the Gross Operational
Surplus (GOS) of Self-employed, which is relatively close to the concept of tax
income of self employed (declared income provided one has profits). These amounts
were incorporated for the years 1988-2009. This new sum of income is calculated as
a percentage of the GDP (Gross Value Added at market prices). For consistency
reasons this percentage was applied to the GDP series that has been compiled by theEurostat. The GDP figures of 1957, 1958 and 1959 are estimated using the (reverse)
growth rate of GDP compiled by ELSTAT and this rate was applied in 1960 GDP
compiled by Eurostat. Then the average percentage of the sum of income for the
years 1988-2009 was calculated and applied to the estimated GDP. Linear
interpolation was applied for the missing years and the final results of the control total
for income are presented in Annex Table 10. The underlying inconsistencies of the
series should be taken into consideration in the interpretation of the results.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
7/28
7
3. Implementation and results
3.1 Income thresholds and average income levels
The approach of Piketty (2001) of the Pareto law is applied in the tabulated tax datafor the period 1957-2009. The control total for population described in 2.2.2 is
illustrated in Annex Table 1 (column 12). The results for the first stages of the
implementation of Pareto law are presented in Annex Table 2, that is the income class
threshold of the tabulated tax data (), the proportion of tax units (the proportionrefers to the whole population - Annex Table 1 column 12) that declared income
higher than the income class threshold () and the ratio between the averageincome of these households and their minimum income (that is the inverted Pareto
coefficient b according to the Piketty approach which takes into account the
differences between the income classes) ().Seven income thresholds have been estimated for the whole period. The thresholds
are P953, P97,5, P98, P98,5, P99, P99,5 and P99,9 with the corresponding average
income levels P95-100, P97,5-100, P98-100, P98,5-100, P99-100, P99,5-100 and
P99,9-100.
The thresholds that are of most importance are those of 1% (P99), 0,5% (P99,5) and
0,1% (P99,9). Since not all values are directly compiled, an estimation procedure
based on linear interpolation is applied. The known variable is the total population.
Then the which is closer to the desirable threshold (P99, P99,5 and P99,) is chosen.In any case, the differences of the coefficients () are miniscule leading to similar
results of the average income levels. The last stage of the procedure is the calculationof the average income levels (P99-100, P99,5-100 and P99,9-100).
The results of the compilation procedure for the income thresholds (P99, P99,5 and
P99) and their corresponding average income levels (P99-100, P99,5-100 and P99,9-
100) are presented in Table 1. The values are in current prices and are expressed in
thousands euros (currency rate 1 euro=340,75 drachmas)
3Except for the years 1973 and 1974, where the estimated thresholds are 3,5% and 3% respectively
instead of 5%.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
8/28
8
Table 1Income thresholds and average income levels (current prices-000 euros)
P99 P99-100 P99,5 P99,5-100 P99,9 P99,9-100
1957 0,202481 0,401864 0,285927 0,56673 0,630897 1,269829
1958 0,225741 0,417619 0,31025 0,574325 0,6607493 1,199396
1959 0,224449 0,414903 0,302473 0,572397 0,6443144 1,225475
1960 0,264138 0,481268 0,367732 0,66159 0,7672779 1,34828
1961 0,277241 0,499988 0,385845 0,683592 0,7821949 1,3738041962 0,305019 0,543352 0,424249 0,737866 0,8656364 1,463136
1963 0,33651 0,607969 0,468057 0,823577 0,9558041 1,634436
1964 0,365695 0,609477 0,529459 0,917006 1,0744682 1,790739
1965 0,403501 0,700472 0,589368 1,023133 1,1774743 1,978871
1966 0,463491 0,801098 0,657922 1,137153 1,2995893 2,200786
1967 0,560878 0,960799 0,782719 1,282249 1,5043479 2,399556
1968 0,600343 1,007741 0,823674 1,341494 1,5595567 2,493735
1969 0,648795 1,091961 0,89503 1,452096 1,6869906 2,673616
1970 0,696836 1,160869 0,947929 1,541292 1,7908109 2,83885
1971 0,788473 1,277103 1,031351 1,670498 1,934037 3,064118
1972 0,92652 1,504578 1,13926 1,850047 2,1446901 3,384479
1973 1,023498 1,782493 1,350465 2,391464 2,6378808 4,843899
1974 1,159096 1,916524 1,47503 2,524894 2,8185482 4,975787
1975 1,334784 2,07103 1,703642 2,668991 3,0398366 4,791523
1976 1,585574 2,414315 1,989914 3,066835 3,5031262 5,388771
1977 1,870934 2,802189 2,331796 3,539938 3,9792213 6,157541
1978 2,246604 3,301808 2,775341 4,126432 4,7177912 7,022264
1979 2,705848 3,992515 3,272445 4,828538 5,4593129 8,345905
1980 3,071693 4,418841 3,757066 5,770567 6,1971249 9,515722
1981 4,092844 6,464842 4,203644 6,639855 7,0607356 12,05904
1982 4,80026 6,902456 5,167036 7,429856 8,2123637 12,34128
1983 5,471825 7,71817 6,051865 8,536333 9,4015588 14,35173
1984 6,050029 8,222851 6,723154 9,800479 10,522337 16,25559
1985 7,279632 10,72805 8,738036 12,87731 13,344562 23,21795
1986 8,332811 11,7707 10,17805 14,37724 16,08823 24,98483
1987 9,419216 13,10118 11,63597 17,93297 18,123659 27,93158
1988 10,60972 15,70669 13,22549 19,5791 22,223382 32,89962
1989 12,32755 17,9004 16,44972 23,88606 28,139045 40,85972
1990 14,65017 20,71398 19,98573 28,25796 36,137408 51,09494
1991 17,78176 25,24843 24,75334 35,14741 46,921641 66,62431
1992 21,49613 30,60814 30,40819 43,29792 59,712758 85,02443
1993 26,02771 36,92774 35,17456 49,90515 70,494174 100,0161
1994 30,17065 42,82404 39,53215 56,1117 80,350948 114,04971995 34,02291 48,35164 43,58401 61,9394 89,516154 127,2158
1996 37,56267 54,0658 47,30717 68,09154 97,937861 140,9668
1997 40,75309 59,57946 50,6629 74,22225 105,52843 154,6014
1998 45,10894 66,57407 56,41639 83,22724 112,1049 165,3807
1999 49,78231 75,98154 62,48177 95,36444 117,47804 179,3039
2000 52,97243 81,09724 66,91347 102,44 121,40394 185,8613
2001 55,94708 85,7147 71,04582 109,0513 125,06466 191,5868
2002 60,28768 92,53867 76,57327 117,9178 134,54148 207,9242
2003 63,53541 98,05058 81,07779 125,1214 142,88004 220,0216
2004 67,26338 101,9407 84,95476 129,1858 146,9479 225,606
2005 70,66306 108,0375 89,42418 137,482 154,82184 243,6717
2006 74,88499 114,4734 94,98204 145,5313 164,83162 255,9083
2007 80,54209 123,1338 101,9855 156,6462 177,87407 277,007
2008 84,08451 127,8249 105,9261 162,2337 184,06354 285,8095
2009 86,75819 129,129 108,9165 162,0823 184,66374 275,5626
Source: Authors calculations
Having estimated the total control for income as it was described in chapter 2.2.3, the
next step is to accrue the average income for the top incomes in the population that
belong to 1%, 0,5% and 0,1% (according to the control total of population). Table 2
presents the Top Income shares in current prices4
for the period 1957-2009.
4 Expressing the income thresholds, the average income and the control total for income
(denominator) in 2009 prices does not have a significant impact of the overall pattern of the three topincome shares in the period under examination.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
9/28
9
Table 2Top Income Shares 1%, 0,5%, 0,1% - current prices
1% SHARES 0,5% SHARES 0,1% SHARES
1957 7,4708% 5,2679% 2,3607%
1958 7,4531% 5,1249% 2,1405%
1959 7,1887% 4,9588% 2,1233%
1960 7,9216% 5,4448% 2,2192%
1961 7,2534% 4,9585% 1,9930%1962 7,5507% 5,1269% 2,0333%
1963 7,4971% 5,0779% 2,0155%
1964 6,6662% 5,0149% 1,9586%
1965 6,6757% 4,8754% 1,8859%
1966 6,8899% 4,8901% 1,8928%
1967 7,7446% 5,1678% 1,9342%
1968 7,4870% 4,9833% 1,8527%
1969 7,0731% 4,7029% 1,7318%
1970 6,6648% 4,4244% 1,6298%
1971 6,6330% 4,3381% 1,5914%
1972 6,9378% 4,2654% 1,5606%
1973 6,3263% 4,2438% 1,7192%
1974 5,9473% 3,9176% 1,5441%
1975 5,4032% 3,4816% 1,2501%
1976 5,1371% 3,2628% 1,1466%
1977 5,1528% 3,2547% 1,1323%
1978 5,0330% 3,1450% 1,0704%
1979 4,9612% 3,0001% 1,0371%
1980 4,6827% 3,0576% 1,0084%
1981 5,6806% 2,9172% 1,0596%
1982 5,0046% 2,6935% 0,8948%
1983 4,7508% 2,6272% 0,8834%
1984 4,1145% 2,4519% 0,8134%
1985 4,4545% 2,6735% 0,9641%
1986 4,1388% 2,5276% 0,8785%
1987 4,1381% 2,8321% 0,8822%
1988 4,1195% 2,5675% 0,8629%
1989 3,7564% 2,5063% 0,8574%
1990 3,6531% 2,4918% 0,9011%
1991 3,5930% 2,5008% 0,9481%
1992 3,9064% 2,7630% 1,0851%
1993 4,3196% 2,9188% 1,1699%
1994 4,2419% 2,7790% 1,1297%
1995 4,6457% 2,9756% 1,2223%
1996 4,8807% 3,0734% 1,2725%
1997 5,1445% 3,2044% 1,3349%
1998 5,3043% 3,3156% 1,3177%
1999 5,9062% 3,7064% 1,3938%
2000 6,1006% 3,8531% 1,3982%
2001 6,0806% 3,8681% 1,3591%
2002 6,5271% 4,1586% 1,4666%
2003 6,3959% 4,0809% 1,4352%
2004 6,2330% 3,9494% 1,3794%
2005 6,1460% 3,9105% 1,3862%
2006 5,9275% 3,7678% 1,3251%
2007 5,4641% 3,4756% 1,2292%
2008 5,6521% 3,5868% 1,2638%
2009 5,6515% 3,5469% 1,2060%
Source: Authors calculations
The top 1% share initiates from a value of 7,5% and ends up around 5,65%. The level
is relatively constant until the late sixties; after this period a slow but steady decline
emerges. This trend remains until the beginning of 1980; during this decade the top
1% is around 4%. In the beginning of the next decade the income share of the 1%
rises without nevertheless reaching the initial levels. This trend seems to be
interrupted in 2001-2002.
The pattern of the 0,5% top income share is similar. After a period of relative stability(around 5%) there is gradual decline that lasts until the early eighties. Then for a
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
10/28
10
decade the level is around 3% and starts rising in the early nineties. After 2000 it
stabilizes in the level of approximately 4%, with a small, but steady, tendency to
decrease.
The behavior of the 0,1% top income share does not differ either. The level is around
2% for the period 1957-1970, it then decreases and reaches a level of 1% in the late70s and the early 80s. It starts rising from 1991-1992 reaching approximately 1,5%;
once again, after 2002 a small tendency for decline is detectable.
The Figure 1 illustrates the Top Income Shares for the period 1957-2009 at current
market values.
Figure 1
According to the previous analysis, the behavior of the three estimated top income
shares is quite similar5. According to Figure 1, a flat U-shaped pattern for all three
cases seems to exist. Nevertheless this pattern is more apparent for the 1% and 0,5%
top income share.
4. International experience
It has already been stated that there is revival of interest in the study of top incomes
using income tax data. Atkinson, Piketty and Saez (2007, 2010, and 2011) conduct a
comparison of Top Income Shares for several countries using the outcomes of
corresponding studies.
They state that even though the authors of these studies have modeled their research
according to Piketty (2001), there are certain parameters that the user of these results
should bear in mind. Certain differences in methodology are unlikely to affect the
5Expressing the three estimated top income shares in 2009 prices does not impose any significant
effect to their behavior.
0.00%
1.00%
2.00%
3.00%
4.00%
5.00%
6.00%
7.00%
8.00%
9.00%
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
TOP INCOME SHARES
1% SHARES 0,5% SHARES 0,1% SHARES
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
11/28
11
broad conclusions whereas others are quantitatively more important. The former are
cases such as the choice of interpolation method or the choice of age cut-off for the
adult population. The latter cases are differences that refer to the unit of analysis, the
derivation of control totals for income and the dependence of the estimates on the
country specific features of the income tax legislation that determine the definition ofincome. These cross-country differences should be taken into account.
The focus is on three main empirical results. The first is that most countries
experienced a sharp drop in top income shares in the first half of the 20th
century.
They attributed this fall to the decline of the capital income component. Secondly, the
post war picture indicate, that top income shares yield a U-shape pattern with further
declines during the immediate postwar decades followed by increases in the recent
decades. Nevertheless the U pattern is quite different among the countries. In all
Western English-speaking countries (in Europe, North America, Australia and New
Zealand), in India and China the increase in top shares is significant, being more
intense in the United States. An increase in the latter decades is detectable in Southern
European (Italy, Spain and Portugal) and Nordic (Sweden, Finland and Norway)
countries, but the trend is less intense. Finally the Continental European (France,
Germany, Netherlands and Switcherland) countries and Japan experience a very flat
U-shape with either no or modest increases in top income shares in recent decades6.
The third result refers to the fact that the increase in top income shares is related
(among other things) to an increase in top labor incomes namely wages and salaries.
The next figures illustrate the pattern of the 1%, 0,5% and 0,1% top income shares of
Greece (current prices) and five other countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain, France andUSA) for the period 1957-2009. The period is chosen according to the estimated
values of the Greek case; values for more or less years exist for the other countries.
6
The characterization of certain countries such as France, Germany, Japan and other as L -shapedrefers to the whole period of examination and not only to the post war period. They also note that
these L-shaped countries tend to move towards to U-shaped pattern.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
12/28
12
Figure 2
The 1% top income share in Greece is in lower levels than the other countries. The
trend is similar to the Southern-European countries, most notably with Italy. It is
noted, though, that the behavior of France is similar, but the changes are less intense.
Figure 3
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
18.00
20.00
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
1% TOP SHARE
GREECE SPAIN PORTUGAL ITALY FRANCE USA
0.00
2.00
4.00
6.00
8.00
10.00
12.00
14.00
16.00
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
0,5 % TOP SHARE
GREECE SPAIN PORTUGAL ITALY FRANCE USA
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
13/28
13
The 0,5% top income share is lower in Greece. The pattern is similar with the
Southern-European countries and France; Portugal, nevertheless, yields more intense
changes.
Figure 4
The general picture is not different with 0,1% top income share. There are similarities
with Spain, Italy and France. Once again the changes are more intense in Portugal.
It is noted that in all cases the USA pattern differs, with a significant increasing trend
emerging in the late eighties.
5. Conclusions
Current literature on income distribution utilizes tax data in order to study top income
shares. Estimations of 1%, 0,5% and 0,1% for the upper shares of income distribution
were compiled for the period 1957-2009 utilizing tabulated tax data. Tax data provide
detailed information on nominal family income and its sources, as reported annually
in tax declaration forms. The issue with the tabulated tax data is that the thresholds ofincome classes do not coincide with the percentiles which are necessary for the
estimation of top income shares; this issue was tacked with the utilization of the
Pareto distribution. Control total for population was applied since the amount of
fillers of tax returns were low especially in the beginning of the period under
investigation. Finally, the control total for income employed in this study was derived
from the national accounts.
The behavior of the three estimated top income shares is quite similar; a flat U-
shaped pattern for all three cases seems to exist. Nevertheless this pattern is more
apparent for the 1% and 0,5% top income share.
0.00
1.00
2.00
3.00
4.00
5.00
6.00
7.00
8.00
9.00
1957
1958
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982
1983
1984
1985
1986
1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
0,1% TOP SHARE
GREECE SPAIN PORTUGAL ITALY FRANCE USA
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
14/28
14
The top 1% share initiates from a value of 7,5% and ends up around 5,65%. The level
is relatively constant until the late sixties; after this period a slow but steady decline
emerges. This trend remains until the beginning of 1980; during this decade the top
1% is around 4%. In the beginning of the next decade the income share of the 1%
rises without nevertheless reaching the initial levels. This trend seems to beinterrupted in 2001-2002.
The pattern of the 0,5% top income share is similar. After a period of relative stability
(around 5%) there is gradual decline that lasts until the early eighties. Then for a
decade the level is around 3% and starts rising in the early nineties. After 2000 it
stabilizes in the level of approximately 4%, with a small, but steady, tendency to
decrease.
The behavior of the 0,1% top income share does not differ either. The level is around
2% for the period 1957-1970, it then decreases and reaches a level of 1% in the late
70s and the early 80s. It starts rising from 1991-1992 reaching approximately 1,5%;
once again, after 2002 a small tendency for decline is detectable.
Finally, the estimated top income shares of Greece were compared with the
corresponding ones of five other countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain, France and USA)
for the period 1957-2009. In all cases top income shares in Greece are in lower levels.
The trend of the 1% top income share is similar to the Southern-European countries,
most notably with Italy. It is noted, though, that the behavior of France is similar, but
the changes are less intense. The pattern of the 0,5% top income share is similar with
the Southern-European countries and France; Portugal, nevertheless, yields more
intense changes. The general picture is not different with 0,1% top income share.
There are similarities with Spain, Italy and France. Once again the changes are moreintense in Portugal. It is noted that in all cases the USA pattern differs, with a
significant increasing trend emerging in the late eighties.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
15/28
15
Bibliography
Atkinson, A. B., (2005), Top incomes in the UK over the 20 th century, Journal ofthe Royal Statistical Society. Series A (Statistics in Society), Vol. 168, No. 2, pp.
325-343
Atkinson, A. B., and Piketty, T. (ed) (2007), Top incomes over the twentieth century,Volume I, Oxford Press
Atkinson, A. B., and Piketty, T. (ed) (2010), Top incomes over the twentieth century,Volume II, Oxford Press
Atkinson, A. B., Piketty, T and Saez, E.,( 2011), Top Income Shares in the Long runof History, Journal of Economic Literature, 49:1, 3-71
Feenberg, D. and J. Poterba (1993), Income Inequality and the Incomes of VeryHigh Income Taxpayers: Evidence from Tax Returns , Tax Policy and the Economy
n7, pp.145-177
Feenberg, D. and J. Poterba (2000), The Income and Tax Share of Very HighIncome Households, 1960-1995 , American Economic Review, 90(2), 264-270
Feenberg, D. and J. Poterba (2000), The Income and Tax Share of Very HighIncome Households, 1960-1995 , NBER, Working Paper 7525 Kopzuck, W., and Saez, E., (2004), Top wealth shares in the United States, 1916-
2000: Evidence from estate tax returns [long version], NBER, Working paper 10399
Kopzuck, W., and Saez, E., (2004), Top wealth shares in the United States, 1916-2000: Evidence from estate tax returns [short version] National Tax Journal, 57(2),Part 2, 445-487
Kuznets, S. (1953), Shares of Upper Income Groups in Income and Savings,National Bureau of Economic Research
Piketty, T. (2001), Income inequality in France 1901-1998, [long version], NBER,discussion Paper 2876
Piketty, T. (2001), Les hauts revenus en France au 20me siecle . Ingalits etredistributions, 1901-1998, Editions Grasset
Piketty, T. (2003), Income inequality in France 1901-1998, [short version], Journalof Political Economy, vol 111, No. 5,
Piketty, T. (2005), Top income shares in the long run, Journal of the EuropeanEconomic Association 3(2-3):1-11
Piketty, T. and Saez, E., (2001), Income inequality in the United States 1913-1998[long version], NBER, Working Paper 8467
Piketty, T. and Saez, E., (2003), Income inequality in the United States 1913-1998[short version], Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol 118, No. 1, pp. 1-39
Piketty, T. and Saez, E., (2006), The evolution of top incomes: a historical andinternational perspective , NBER, Working Paper 11955
Piketty, T. and Saez, E., (2006), The Evolution of Top Incomes: A Historical andInternational Perspective, The American Economic Review, Vol. 96, No. 2 , pp. 200-205 Published
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
16/28
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
17/28
17
The number of the tax declarations has been constantly increasing. It started from
208.290 in the 1957 and it is 5.694.978 in 2009.
The level of the declared income has an increasing trend as well. The total declared
family tax income was 30.728.100 (in euros) in 1957 and 100.300.747.379 euro in
2009.
The average declared income has risen from 147,526 euro in 1957 to 17.612,140 euro
in 2009 (current market prices).
Another interesting aspect of the declared family income is the time series of the
income sources. The contribution of certain income sources varies significantlythrough the reference period. The following graph illustrates the percentage of the
contribution of income sources to the total level of income.
The contribution of salaries and wages have raised dramatically during the reference
period. From the level of 34,63% in 1757, it reaches 74,41% in 1984 following a
constant upward trend. It started to decline gradually in the next years and after 1998
(67,87%) it increases again, reaching the level of 76,62% in 2009.
The trend for the income of enterprises from commerce and industries has the
opposite direction. It has declined significantly and constantly (with small exceptions
0
1,000,000
2,000,000
3,000,000
4,000,000
5,000,000
6,000,000
1957
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
Figure 1 - Number of Tax Returns
0
20,000,000,000
40,000,000,000
60,000,000,000
80,000,000,000
100,000,000,000
120,000,000,000
1957
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
Figure 2 - Declared Income
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
1957
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
Figure 3 - Average Declared Income
0.00%
10.00%
20.00%
30.00%
40.00%
50.00%
60.00%
70.00%
80.00%
90.00%
1957
1959
1961
1963
1965
1967
1969
1971
1973
1975
1977
1979
1981
1983
1985
1987
1989
1991
1993
1995
1997
1999
2001
2003
2005
2007
2009
Figure 4 - % of Income Sources
buildings and lease of land
securities
commerce and industries
agricultural enterprises
salaries and wages
self employed
ROW
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
18/28
18
in mid-70s and mid-90s). The contribution fell from 40,32% in 1958 at 8,19% in
2009.
The income from buildings and lease of land declined as well, reaching the lower
level at mid-80s, and after an increasing trend for the next period it is stable the last
years at the level of approximately 9%.Significant decrease of contribution has also the income from securities.
The income for self employed does not yield the same trend for the whole period.
The range of the share is from 2,53% to 5,95%. The same applies for agricultural
enterprises with the contributions, though, being in significantly lower levels: from
0,08% to 2,49%. Finally the income from the rest of world (coded 1992) is in very
low levels below 0,4% for all years).
3. Pareto Method of Interpolation
The Pareto interpolation technique used is described in Piketty (2001) and Piketty and
Saez (2007).
In order to estimate a given fractile threshold (P90, P95, . . . , P99.99), we choose the
income bracket threshold s such that the fraction p of tax units with income above s is
as close as possible to the given fractile; we note b the ratio between the average
income of all tax returns above s and s; we then compute a=b/(b-1) and k= ,which allows us to compute the given threshold income by using the Pareto formula
1-F(y) = (1)
(where F(y) is the cumulative distribution function). Top fractiles average incomes
(P90100, P95100,, P99.99100) are then obtained by multiplying the
corresponding fractile threshold by b (in practice, the result barely depends on the
interpolation threshold s , as long as s is not too far from the given fractile).
According to Pietty and Saez (2007) this interpolation technique is slightly different
from the one used by Feenberg and Poterba (1993) and delivers more precise results
(Feenberg and Poterba only use the slope between two consecutives thresholds s, and
do not use the information embodied in the b coefficients).
4. Control Total for Population
For the estimation of the population control total several data sources have been
utilized, being the main nevertheless the Concise Statistical Yearbook (CSY). Table 1
summarizes the data used for the estimation of the control total for each year. The
total population (column 2) includes estimations from ELSTAT [they coincide with
the figures of CSY 1971 (Table II.2: 1957-1970), CSY 2003 (Table II.4: 1971-2001)
and CSY 2009 (Table II.4: 2002-2008)] and it refers to the midpoint of each year (mid
year). Actual figures for population over 20 (column 4) and married people over
20 (column 5) exists for the years of census, that is 1971, 1981, 1991 and 2001 (CSY
1975-1976 Table II.5: 1971, CSY 1983-1984 Table I.6: 1981, CSY 1993 Table II.6:1991, CSY 2003 Table II.6: 2001). A small inconsistency occurs due to the fact that
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
19/28
19
these (actual) figures do not refer to midpoint of the year. CSY provides estimates
(and not actual figures) for the midpoint for several years but only for the population
over 20 (and not for married over 20) (column 3); moreover no figure for 1971
(census year) is provided. Nevertheless the difference (for population over 20) is
very small for the years where comparison is available (1981, 1991, 2001).
A method of linear interpolation (see below technical description of linearinterpolation) is used for the missing values. For the missing values of population
over 20 linear interpolation is applied for the years 1961-1963, 1970-1974, 1983,
1986, 1988; the known variable for estimation is the total population (column 6). For
the missing values of married over 20 linear interpolation is applied for the years
1972-1980, 1982-1990, 1992-2000; the known variable for estimation is the total
population (column 7). Column 8 illustrates the results for population over 20 (CSY
estimates) minus married over 20 (linear interpolation estimates) divided by two.
Column 9 illustrates the results for population over 20 (linear interpolation
estimates) minus married over 20 (linear interpolation estimates) divided by two.
For the period 1957-1970 the annual (reverse) growth rate of total population is
applied on the figure of population over 20 minus married people over 20 divided bytwo on the actual figure of 1971 [that is the annual (reverse) growth rate is applied for
each year for 1971 backwards] . For the period 2002-2009 the same procedure is used
on the corresponding actual figure of 2001 (that is annual growth rate for each year
for 2001 onwards). The estimates for the periods 1957-1970 and 2002-2009 are
illustrated in the column 11. The control total for population is the column 12.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
20/28
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
21/28
21
the ratio between the average income of these households and their minimum income
(that is the Pareto coefficient b according to Piketty approach which takes into
account the differences between the income classes). The amounts for are in currentprices and expressed in thousand euros (currency rate 1 euro = 340,75 drachmas).
Table 2Estimates of Pareto Law implementation
1957 1958 1959 1960
si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi
0,234776 0,742097 1,9847 0,234776 0,918128 1,849993 0,234776 0,906648 1,848544 0,29347 0,79183296 1,822031
0,29347 0,474401 1,98208 0,29347 0,56427 1,851169 0,29347 0,533086 1,892392 0,586941 0,17450045 1,799109
0,586941 0,115434 2,012736 0,586941 0,130181 1,815206 0,586941 0,121733 1,901984 1,173881 0,03727771 1,757225
1,173881 0,031733 1,890596 1,173881 0,029358 1,740273 1,173881 0,033309 1,728359 1,760822 0,01528471 1,714778
1,760822 0,012664 1,94636 1,760822 0,012487 1,643734 1,760822 0,013872 1,647706 2,347762 0,00781219 1,69572
2,934703 0,005095 1,782857 2,347762 0,006777 1,551074 2,347762 0,007221 1,591497 2,934703 0,00515151 1,599747
5,869406 0,001601 1,458182 2,934703 0,003778 1,515321 2,934703 0,004253 1,534081 5,869406 0,00084915 1,54735
5,869406 0,000606 1,380667 5,869406 0,000514 1,59625 8,804109 0,00033966 1,450833
8,804109 0,000202 1,21181 8,804109 0,000285 1,318 14,67351 5,661E-05 1,2606
1961 1962 1963 1964
si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi
0,29347 0,880122 1,803441 0,29347 1,091986 1,781368 0,29347 1,358657 1,806689 0,29347 1,68135913 1,832642
0,586941 0,190855 1,771673 0,586941 0,232967 1,739226 0,586941 0,295981 1,759566 0,586941 0,39179182 1,731969
1,173881 0,038957 1,756345 1,173881 0,04743 1,690243 1,173881 0,060959 1,710011 1,173881 0,08015308 1,666628
1,760822 0,015549 1,733625 1,760822 0,018051 1,66687 1,760822 0,0236 1,684356 1,760822 0,02952425 1,649228
2,347762 0,007999 1,722816 2,347762 0,008593 1,691968 2,347762 0,011452 1,695382 2,347762 0,01412511 1,665113
2,934703 0,00508 1,659431 2,934703 0,00558 1,59965 2,934703 0,006643 1,696092 2,934703 0,00817041 1,656119
5,869406 0,000982 1,471886 5,869406 0,000949 1,430382 5,869406 0,001251 1,581444 5,869406 0,0014956 1,616833
8,804109 0,000309 1,416333 8,804109 0,000363 1,239538 8,804109 0,000389 1,617952 8,804109 0,00055393 1,5664
14,67351 8,42E-05 1,0874 14,67351 2,79E-05 1,2012 14,67351 0,000167 1,176667 14,67351 0,00019387 1,362114
1965 1966 1967 1968
si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi
0,29347 1,993786 1,886044 0,29347 2,524448 1,905181 0,29347 3,698953 1,856634 0,29347 4,32965177 1,843921
0,586941 0,50489 1,735984 0,586941 0,655569 1,7284 0,586941 0,896622 1,713027 0,586941 1,05743527 1,678609
1,173881 0,100758 1,680607 1,173881 0,128202 1,693448 1,173881 0,176663 1,638198 1,173881 0,19968654 1,628672
1,760822 0,037491 1,665174 1,760822 0,050515 1,636919 1,760822 0,065576 1,59508 1,760822 0,07232401 1,599003
2,347762 0,018277 1,667592 2,347762 0,024409 1,625995 2,347762 0,031017 1,577644 2,347762 0,03362716 1,59879
2,934703 0,010283 1,685386 2,934703 0,013545 1,631594 2,934703 0,016955 1,573584 2,934703 0,01839112 1,605012
5,869406 0,001792 1,765862 5,869406 0,002381 1,603902 5,869406 0,002434 1,588106 5,869406 0,00291238 1,651435
8,804109 0,000744 1,70579 8,804109 0,000848 1,57529 8,804109 0,000892 1,492242 8,804109 0,00102472 1,651842
14,67351 0,000276 1,49136 14,67351 0,000137 1,95808 14,67351 0,000108 2,2186 14,67351 0,00021573 1,901625
1969 1970 1971 1972
si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi
0,29347 5,113991 1,86364 0,29347 6,086118 1,877136 0,29347 7,318589 1,901334 0,29347 8,43860633 1,954118
0,586941 1,280022 1,683059 0,586941 1,584177 1,665915 0,586941 1,979683 1,666709 0,586941 2,42078755 1,695195
1,173881 0,246568 1,622399 1,173881 0,28694 1,625957 1,173881 0,356482 1,619718 1,173881 0,46251959 1,623902
1,760822 0,089041 1,584844 1,760822 0,104681 1,585232 1,760822 0,12897 1,584312 1,760822 0,16745235 1,589327
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
22/28
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
23/28
23
5,869406 2,55631 1,37424 5,869406 3,670263 1,396983 5,869406 5,132218 1,414223 5,869406 8,06561344 1,47511
8,804109 0,488418 1,473708 8,804109 0,828308 1,412573 8,804109 1,271627 1,390899 8,804109 2,49557749 1,388356
14,67351 0,079992 1,739881 14,67351 0,129498 1,552988 14,67351 0,182466 1,541167 14,67351 0,36301329 1,480406
1989 1990 1991 1992
si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi
0,880411 47,00585 5,428027 0,880411 49,50016 6,366243 0,880411 54,11583 7,109599 8,804109 13,3385165 1,589825
1,173881 44,99226 4,214158 1,173881 47,83878 4,910263 1,173881 52,52162 5,467648 10,27146 9,90685438 1,514738
1,467351 43,01525 3,48497 1,467351 46,08129 4,043893 1,467351 50,8507 4,48837 11,73881 7,42706847 1,455842
1,760822 40,92693 3,005642 1,760822 44,33901 3,466368 1,760822 49,1558 3,837781 13,20616 5,5160105 1,416015
2,347762 36,17869 2,43517 2,347762 40,67488 2,755315 2,347762 45,62228 3,033638 14,67351 4,0105177 1,396982
2,934703 31,30036 2,111409 2,934703 36,23225 2,364621 2,934703 41,23033 2,589478 16,14087 2,8871124 1,393692
5,869406 12,38302 1,559655 5,869406 17,57083 1,656999 5,869406 22,43395 1,764558 17,60822 2,07998508 1,402325
8,804109 4,860978 1,40239 8,804109 7,876316 1,471003 8,804109 11,03958 1,552878 19,07557 1,53655618 1,413088
14,67351 0,721717 1,452065 14,67351 1,537022 1,413907 14,67351 2,852073 1,419906 20,54292 1,16457628 1,42389
1993 1994 1995 1996
si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi
8,804109 16,27663 1,649335 8,804109 23,03072 1,732737 8,804109 26,67868 1,80121 8,804109 29,7897646 1,884477
10,27146 12,25835 1,574074 10,27146 17,91436 1,645317 10,27146 21,20836 1,703565 10,27146 24,3623695 1,768321
11,73881 9,430607 1,510161 11,73881 14,10787 1,57594 11,73881 16,89934 1,632424 11,73881 19,6776567 1,693106
13,20616 7,301843 1,459059 13,20616 11,20563 1,519711 13,20616 13,64113 1,572617 13,20616 16,0110603 1,633976
14,67351 5,608067 1,423302 14,67351 8,927123 1,474856 14,67351 11,09626 1,522516 14,67351 13,2203473 1,580901
16,14087 4,218733 1,406183 16,14087 7,048229 1,444142 16,14087 9,05254 1,481417 16,14087 11,0165923 1,53405
17,60822 3,134965 1,403982 17,60822 5,50667 1,42647 17,60822 7,360369 1,450107 17,60822 9,20495171 1,494579
19,07557 2,338919 1,410538 19,07557 4,279677 1,41901 19,07557 5,927424 1,429972 19,07557 7,68500259 1,462508
20,54292 1,780668 1,418785 20,54292 3,326619 1,419394 20,54292 4,719913 1,42115 20,54292 6,3723911 1,439349
1997 1998 1999 2000
si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi
22,01027 7,387742 1,463787 22,01027 8,763605 1,513738 22,01027 9,380138 1,594486 22,01027 10,2881645 1,624866
23,47762 6,284309 1,443242 23,47762 7,587336 1,489053 23,47762 8,253866 1,566717 23,47762 9,09832516 1,595934
26,41233 4,419561 1,426681 26,41233 5,617023 1,457343 26,41233 6,358994 1,526706 26,41233 7,14882839 1,548444
29,34703 3,062294 1,433463 29,34703 4,056402 1,451604 29,34703 4,81603 1,510505 29,34703 5,5465962 1,522173
32,28173 2,174441 1,446862 32,28173 2,928003 1,461425 32,28173 3,612557 1,513375 32,28173 4,24304575 1,516222
35,21643 1,614573 1,454941 35,21643 2,187241 1,469773 35,21643 2,752092 1,522256 35,21643 3,24353099 1,523531
38,15114 1,234778 1,461086 38,15114 1,690892 1,473406 38,15114 2,16764 1,525363 38,15114 2,54865641 1,528235
41,08584 0,974593 1,461962 41,08584 1,338538 1,475053 41,08584 1,748355 1,525245 41,08584 2,04901129 1,530429
44,02054 0,780425 1,463942 44,02054 1,078694 1,475851 44,02054 1,427009 1,526815 44,02054 1,67910465 1,530465
46,44167 0,657658 1,465022 46,44167 0,914682 1,475232 46,44167 1,223176 1,526276 46,44167 1,43755482 1,530933
2001 2002 2003 2004
si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi
41,08584 2,443663 1,530027 41,086 3,066656 1,526047 41,086 3,572357 1,528665 41,086 4,53180364 1,493063
44,02054 1,995658 1,531935 44,021 2,492656 1,530059 44,021 2,902454 1,533315 44,021 3,6603854 1,495435
46,95525 1,657261 1,531929 46,955 2,061467 1,532143 46,955 2,398238 1,536328 46,955 2,98073057 1,501082
49,88995 1,393007 1,531429 49,89 1,729264 1,532801 49,89 2,008515 1,538403 49,89 2,4648974 1,505599
52,82465 1,181304 1,531469 52,825 1,463927 1,533983 52,825 1,700261 1,54027 52,825 2,06474509 1,50932
55,75935 1,009725 1,532068 55,759 1,251596 1,534797 55,759 1,453857 1,541661 55,759 1,75069827 1,511909
58,69406 0,869897 1,532832 58,694 1,079901 1,534952 58,694 1,254615 1,542433 58,694 1,50264298 1,512606
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
24/28
24
66,03081 0,620289 1,532392 66,031 0,767641 1,53699 66,031 0,896329 1,543243 66,031 1,05586437 1,515545
73,36757 0,455929 1,534944 73,368 0,564852 1,539934 73,368 0,666608 1,541344 73,368 0,77076329 1,51835
80,70433 0,345978 1,536436 80,704 0,428654 1,542548 80,704 0,506607 1,543227 80,704 0,58087175 1,520642
88,04109 0,269772 1,536318 88,041 0,333145 1,54523 88,041 0,396963 1,541211 88,041 0,44827609 1,523531
95,37784 0,213009 1,540445 95,378 0,265508 1,545259 95,378 0,315118 1,542981 95,378 0,35354303 1,526109
102,7146 0,172989 1,538655 102,715 0,215261 1,545053 102,715 0,255865 1,541523 102,715 0,2842162 1,528065
110,0514 0,141324 1,541618 110,051 0,176611 1,546408 110,051 0,209709 1,542967 110,051 0,23200836 1,530049
117,3881 0,118031 1,539695 117,388 0,148053 1,542648 117,388 0,175881 1,538593 117,388 0,19235899 1,530596
132,0616 0,085489 1,531902 132,062 0,105412 1,545428 132,062 0,126003 1,536773 132,062 0,13679883 1,531617
146,735 0,092688 1,539904 146,735 0,1004167 1,535279
2005 2006 2007 2008
si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi si pi bi
50 2,842296 1,510931 50 3,325283 1,515523 50 4,086364 1,518819 50 4,7391999 1,509207
55 2,119589 1,517488 55 2,491463 1,520385 55 3,081902 1,520623 55 3,56447588 1,510484
60 1,629805 1,521794 60 1,925599 1,522301 60 2,386378 1,521546 60 2,75236898 1,51108
65 1,282928 1,525101 65 1,517993 1,524795 65 1,886072 1,522547 65 2,17176615 1,511222
70 1,027627 1,52891 70 1,21745 1,527786 70 1,51538 1,524144 70 1,742043 1,511992
75 0,838152 1,531369 75 0,995572 1,528656 75 1,234644 1,526497 75 1,41676471 1,513597
80 0,694821 1,532273 80 0,824736 1,529568 80 1,019716 1,528813 80 1,1636011 1,517267
85 0,57997 1,535783 85 0,692632 1,529246 85 0,853407 1,530364 85 0,96884956 1,520195
90 0,490903 1,537414 90 0,585973 1,530442 90 0,721641 1,531891 90 0,81565819 1,523027
95 0,418839 1,539683 95 0,499728 1,532198 95 0,616767 1,532683 95 0,69640512 1,523381
100 0,35976 1,542945 100 0,428864 1,535119 100 0,528979 1,535966 100 0,59693542 1,526063
110 0,272151 1,547829 110 0,324569 1,538202 110 0,398812 1,541276 110 0,44848469 1,531575
120 0,211411 1,55161 120 0,253215 1,538008 120 0,309981 1,543772 120 0,34524594 1,537756
130 0,167946 1,554758 130 0,20133 1,538197 130 0,245671 1,546859 130 0,27309775 1,540932
140 0,134669 1,562771 140 0,16236 1,540147 140 0,196984 1,5534 140 0,22043141 1,542796
150 0,109935 1,569629 150 0,132053 1,545726 150 0,161718 1,555401 150 0,17987632 1,54701
160 0,091373 1,573884 160 0,108719 1,552544 160 0,13523 1,554335 160 0,14927155 1,549336
170 0,113737 1,556237 170 0,12553484 1,550497
180 0,096735 1,557321 180 0,10647177 1,552776
2009
si pi bi
50 5,216849 1,497599
55 3,932169 1,495205
60 3,030408 1,49403
65 2,388311 1,491919
70 1,910227 1,491091
75 1,551496 1,490309
80 1,277276 1,489434
85 1,064383 1,488378
90 0,896098 1,487297
95 0,759156 1,487718
100 0,64935 1,487618
110 0,485137 1,488133
120 0,370474 1,490577
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
25/28
25
130 0,290000 1,49146
140 0,230784 1,493264
150 0,186677 1,494876
160 0,154113 1,493098
170 0,127947 1,494318
180 0,108063 1,49224
Source: ELSTATbulletins and General Secretariat of Informative Systems bulletins and authors calculations
6. Control Total for Income
For the estimation of income control total several sources have been used. The main
sources are the Bulletins of National Accounts, Eurostat publications for the GDP,
ELSTAT data for the CPI, General Government Accounts and GDP Accounts and
Data from Ministry of Finance 2001 study.
The main aim is to compile a control total for income that is comparable (to thepossible extent) with the declared tax income. Using the National Accounts as a base,
certain components of the sector of Households are needed, mainly wages, property
income, social benefits and other current transfers.
The series for 1988-1995 (National Account Bulleting 1988-1995) are according to
mixed system (ESA 1979 and ESA 1995). According to the definition the households
sector (S80) covers individuals or groups of individuals as consumers and possibly
also entrepreneurs provided that in the latter case, the corresponding activities are not
those of separate entities treated as quasi-corporate enterprises. The principal
resources of these units are derived from the compensation of employees, property
income, transfers from other sectors or the proceeds from the sale of products. Table
3 includes Gross Value Added at market prices for Households and Total Economy(N1), Gross Wages (R101), Property Income (R40) and current transfers (R60).
The series 1995-2000 are according to ESA 1995 with the year 1995 being the base
year. S14 is the sector of households and it is not to be confused with sector S15
which is non-profit institutions serving Households (NPISH), since Greek National
Accounts provide separate accounts. Table 4 illustrates Gross Value Added/GDP for
total Economy and Households Sector (B1g), Wages and Salaries (D11), Social
Benefits (D62) and Other Current Transfers (D7).
The series 2000-2008 are according to ESA 1995 with the year 2000 being the base
year. Table 5 illustrates the transactions described in the previous paragraph.
The series 2005-2009 are according to ESA 1995 with the year 2005 being the base
year. Table 6 illustrates the transactions described in the paragraph for 1995-2000
series.
Table 3Data 1988-1995 National Accounts Bulletin - mio euroscurrent values
GROSS VALUE ADDED AT
MARKET PRICES
PRIMARY
INCOME/GNI
S80_PRIMARY
INCOME GNI
GROSS
WAGES
PROPERTY INCOME CURRENT
TRANSFERS
N1
(1)
N1-
HOUSEHOLDS
(2)
(3) (4) R101
(5)
R40
(6)
R60
(7)
(8) = (5)
+(6)+(7)
1988 26.908 13.518 27.274 22.885 7.086 3.312 5.079 15.477
1989 31.974 16.218 32.466 27.853 8.872 4.122 5.978 18.971
1990 38.571 19.076 39.659 34.596 11.003 6.071 7.198 24.273
1991 47.632 23.990 49.171 41.445 12.454 6.735 8.973 28.163
1992 55.073 26.950 57.033 47.584 13.874 8.279 10.586 32.739
1993 62.027 30.156 64.035 53.172 15.502 8.901 12.042 36.445
1994 70.385 34.173 72.676 61.542 17.505 11.233 14.151 42.890
1995 78.895 37.785 81.206 68.099 20.375 11.444 15.949 47.768
Sources: ELSTAT, 1988-1995 National Accounts Bulletin
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
26/28
26
Table 4ELSTAT data - mio euroscurrent values
VALUEADDED
GROSS/GDP
S14_VALUEADDED
GROSS/GDP
PRIMARY
INCOME,GROSS/GNI
S14_'PRIMARY
INCOME,GROSS/GNI WAGES PROPERTY INCOME
SOCIAL
BENEFITS
OTHERCURRENT
TRANSFERS
B1g(1)
B1g(2)
B5(3)
B5(4)
D11(5)
D4(6)
D62(7)
D7(8)
(9)=(5)+(6)+(7)+(8)
1995 79.927 38.061 82.456 68.425 20.533 11.267 12.143 3.061 47.004
1996 87.851 42.132 90.302 74.399 21.905 11.694 13.625 2.984 50.207
1997 97.235 48.459 99.959 82.799 25.007 10.849 15.253 2.964 54.073
1998 105.773 52.460 108.639 89.668 27.716 11.698 16.744 3.530 59.688
1999 112.660 54.702 114.889 93.759 28.993 11.916 18.189 4.146 63.244
2000 121.516 58.710 123.407 97.694 31.123 10.052 19.973 3.357 64.504
Sources: ELSTAT
Table 5ELSTAT data - mio euroscurrent values
VALUEADDED
GROSS/GDP
S14_VALUEADDED
GROSS/GDP
PRIMARY
INCOME,GROSS/GNI
S14_'PRIMARY
INCOME,GROSS/GNI WAGES PROPERTY INCOME
SOCIAL
BENEFITS
OTHERCURRENT
TRANSFERS
B1g
(1)
B1g
(2)
B5g
(3)
B5g
(4)
D11
(5)
D4
(6)
D62
(7)
D7
(8)
(9)=
(5)+(6)+(7)+(8)
2000 136.281 50.409 136.646 104.098 36.001 18.248 20.354 3.201 77.804
2001 146.428 54.451 147.354 109.807 37.822 16.254 22.716 3.269 80.061
2002 156.616 57.533 157.028 116.758 43.434 13.444 24.456 3.269 84.603
2003 172.432 63.132 171.412 125.133 46.902 12.235 27.620 3.746 90.5032004 185.266 66.188 183.950 132.469 51.007 12.580 29.174 4.104 96.865
2005 194.819 70.090 191.744 140.576 53.755 13.854 32.353 3.924 103.885
2006 211.298 74.565 206.762 150.434 58.540 15.960 35.970 3.922 114.392
2007 227.074 77.416 220.301 171.019 62.990 29.884 40.371 3.770 137.015
2008 236.918 79.830 229.198 171.293 67.065 22.909 45.917 4.160 140.052
Sources: ELSTAT
Table 6ELSTAT data - mio euroscurrent values
VALUEADDED
GROSS/GDP
S14_VALUEADDED
GROSS/GDP
PRIMARY
INCOME,GROSS/GNI
S14_'PRIMARY
INCOME,GROSS/GNI WAGES PROPERTY INCOME
SOCIAL
BENEFITS
OTHERCURRENT
TRANSFERS
B1g
(1)
B1g
(2)
B5g
(3)
B5g
(4)
D11
(5)
D4
(6)
D62
(7)
D7
(8)
(9)=
(5)+(6)+(7)+(8)
2005 193.050 68.153 190.241 143.162 53.623 16.019 33.285 3.633 106.561
2006 208.893 72.791 204.342 149.472 56.949 16.656 37.006 3.496 114.107
2007 222.771 77.235 216.487 169.279 60.925 28.177 41.157 3.337 133.597
2008 232.921 76.871 225.325 165.482 65.156 20.864 47.217 3.665 136.902
2009 231.642 74.712 226.000 166.242 68.226 19.267 50.475 3.055 141.022
Sources: ELSTAT
The approach to derive the control total for income contains the following steps.
- For the years 1988-1995 we calculate the sum of Wages (R101), Property Income
(R40) and Current Transfers (R60) (Table 3column 8)
- For the years 1995-2000 we calculate the sum of Wages (D11), Property Income
(D4), Social Benefits (D62) and Other Current Transfers (D7) (Table 4column 9)
- For the years 2000-2008 we calculate the sum of Wages (D11), Property Income
(D4), Social Benefits (D62) and Other Current Transfers (D7) (Table 5column 9)
- For the years 2005-2009 we calculate the sum of Wages (D11), Property Income
(D4), Social Benefits (D62) and Other Current Transfers (D7) (Table 6column 9)- These transactions are homogeneous enough (in practice a breakdown of old
current transfers took place). In the case of two sources of data for the same year,
newer data are preferred.
- The Wages illustrate gross income meaning that the employees social contributions
are included. These amounts should be deducted since they are not reported in tax
declarations
- In order to estimate these amounts the General Government Accounts are used. The
Actual Social Contributions of Employees (D61121) received by General
Government, that is Central Government (S1311) and Social Security Funds (S1314)
are utilized.
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
27/28
27
- These amounts are deducted from the Wages for the years 1988-2009. More
specifically, the Net Wages are presented in Table 7 - column 5 (1988-1995), Table
8column 5 (1995-2000) and Table 9column 5 (2000-2009)
- The net income of self employed is not captured from the figures mentioned so far.
From National Accounts point of view, this income is incorporated in Gross
Operational Surplus (GOS) of Self-employed, which is a relatively close to theconcept of tax income of self employed (declared income provided one has profits).
- To estimate the Gross Operational Surplus of Self Employed, we use the figures of
Total Employment, Number of Self Employed (ESE) and Number of Employees
(EEM). The Average Compensation of EEM is calculated and this figure is applied in
the number of self employed. Then the estimated amount of Compensation of ESE
is deducted from the Mixed Income of S14 (Compensation of ESE and GOS of
ESE). The remaining amount is the GOS of ESE.
- The new sum of income is illustrated in Table 7 column 9 (1988-1995), Table 8
column 10 (1995-2000) and Table 9column 10 (2000-2009).
- The sum of income as percentage of GDP (Gross Value Added at market prices
that is N1 or B1g) is calculated.- This percentage is applied in the GDP series that has been compiled by Eurostat.
This series is according to ESA 95 and is totally homogeneous (thus comparable).
- The GDP figures of 1957, 1958 and 1959 are estimated using the (reverse) growth
rate of GDP_ELSTAT and this rate was applied in GDP of 1960 by Eurostat.
- Then the average percentage of the sum of income for the years 1988-2009 was
calculated and applied in the estimated GDP.
- Applying these percentages in the GDP by Eurostat we obtain the amounts (for the
total control) for the years 1957-1959 and 1988-2009.
- Linear interpolation is applied for the missing years. The known variable is the
GDP (by Eurostat).
- The results are presented in Table 10.
Table 7Estimation of Income/GDP, 1988-1995 mio euroscurrent prices
GROSS VALUE ADDED AT MARKET PRICESGROSS
WAGES
GOS SELF
EMPLOYED
PROPERTY
INCOME
CURRENT
TRANSFERS
TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF
INCOME/GDP
N1
(1)
N1-HOUSEHOLDS
(2)
R101
(3)
d61121
(4)
net R101
(5)=(3)-(4)
GOS S.E.
(6)
R40
(7)
R60
(8)
(9)=(5)+(6) +
(7)+(8)
% N1
10=(9)/(1)
1988 26.908 13.518 7.086 840 6.246 1.079 3.312 5.079 15.716 0,584042
1989 31.974 16.218 8.872 958 7.914 1.916 4.122 5.978 19.930 0,623306
1990 38.571 19.076 11.003 1.313 9.690 1.111 6.071 7.198 24.070 0,624053
1991 47.632 23.990 12.454 1.595 10.859 3.414 6.735 8.973 29.981 0,629441
1992 55.073 26.950 13.874 1.809 12.065 3.530 8.279 10.586 34.459 0,625706
1993 62.027 30.156 15.502 2.383 13.119 4.201 8.901 12.042 38.263 0,616871
1994 70.385 34.173 17.505 2.920 14.585 6.002 11.233 14.151 45.972 0,653152
1995 78.895 37.785 20.375 3.442 16.933 5.797 11.444 15.949 50.122 0,635305
Sources: ELSTAT, published and unpublished data and authors calculations
Table 8Estimation of Income/GDP, 1995-2000 mio euroscurrent prices
VALUE
ADDED
GROSS/GDP
S14_VALUE
ADDED
GROSS/GDP
WAGESGOS SELF
EMPLOYED
PROPERTY
INCOME
SOCIAL
BENEFITS
OTHER
CURRENT
TRANSFERS
TOTAL PERCENTAGE OF
INCOME/GDP
B1g
(1)
B1g
(2)
D11
(3)
D61121
(4)
NET D11
(5)=(3)-(4)
GOS S.E.
(6)
D4
(7)
D6
(8)
D7
(9)
(10)=(5)+(6)+
(7)+(8)+(9)
% B1g
(11)=(10)/(1)
1995 79.927 38.061 20.533 3.442 17.091 5.147 11.267 12.143 3.061 48.708 0,609409
1996 87.851 42.132 21.905 3.849 18.056 6.203 11.694 13.625 2.984 52.562 0,59831
1997 97.235 48.459 25.007 4.249 20.759 5.867 10.849 15.253 2.964 55.691 0,57275
1998 105.773 52.460 27.716 4.576 23.140 5.999 11.698 16.744 3.530 61.111 0,577757
1999 112.660 54.702 28.993 5.088 23.905 5.224 11.916 18.189 4.146 63.380 0,562579
2000 121.516 58.710 31.123 5.602 25.521 6.279 10.052 19.973 3.357 65.182 0,536405
Sources: ELSTAT, published and unpublished data and authors calculations
-
7/31/2019 TR 256_Top Income Shares in Greece
28/28
Table 9Estimation of Income/GDP, 2000-2009 mio euroscurrent prices
GrossDomestic
Product
S14_GrossDomestic
Product
Wages andsalaries
GOS SELFEMPLOYED
PROPERTYINCOME
SOCIALBENEFITS
OTHERCURRENT
TRANSFERS
TOTAL PERCENTAGE OFINCOME/GDP
B1g(1)
B1g(2)
D11(3)
D61121(4)
NET D11(5)=(3)-(4)
GOS S.E.(6)
D4(7)
D6(8)
D7(9)
(10)=(5)+(6)+(7)+(8)+(9)
% B1g(11)=(10)/(1)
2000 136.281 50.409 36.001 5.602 30.399 4.768 18.248 20.354 3.201 76.970 0,564788
2001 146.428 54.451 37.822 5.204 32.618 7.143 16.254 22.716 3.269 82.000 0,560004
2002 156.616 57.533 43.434 7.020 36.414 5.173 13.444 24.456 3.269 82.756 0,528401
2003 172.432 63.132 46.902 8.032 38.870 7.307 12.235 27.620 3.746 89.778 0,520657
2004 185.266 66.188 51.007 8.114 42.893 7.359 12.580 29.174 4.104 96.111 0,518772
2005 193.050 68.153 53.623 8.684 44.939 5.818 16.019 33.285 3.633 103.695 0,53714
2006 208.893 72.791 56.949 8.680 48.269 8.953 16.656 37.006 3.496 114.379 0,547549
2007 222.771 77.235 60.925 9.421 51.504 9.820 28.177 41.157 3.337 133.996 0,601498
2008 232.921 76.871 65.156 9.793 55.363 7.898 20.864 47.217 3.665 135.008 0,579629
2009 231.642 74.712 68.226 8.875 59.351 4.806 19.267 50.475 3.055 136.953 0,591229
Sources: ELSTAT, published and unpublished data and authors calculations
Table 10Control Total for income - mio euros current prices
GDP_EUROSTAT (1) FINAL SERIES (2) declared income (3) (4)=(3/(2)
1957 317 185 31 0,166
1958 333 194 37 0,190
1959 347 202 39 0,194
1960 368 215 46 0,215
1961 421 246 49 0,201
1962 442 258 50 0,194
1963 500 292 58 0,199
1964 566 330 64 0,195
1965 652 381 75 0,196
1966 728 425 89 0,210
1967 786 459 129 0,280
1968 855 499 145 0,290
1969 984 575 171 0,297
1970 1.113 650 196 0,302
1971 1.236 721 232 0,322
1972 1.430 835 269 0,322
1973 1.869 1.091 347 0,318
1974 2.147 1.254 413 0,329
1975 2.583 1.508 490 0,325
1976 3.213 1.876 602 0,321
1977 3.763 2.198 751 0,3421978 4.592 2.682 1.078 0,402
1979 5.699 3.328 1.346 0,405
1980 6.842 3.996 1.642 0,411
1981 8.190 4.783 2.087 0,436
1982 10.301 6.016 2.675 0,445
1983 12.291 7.178 3.169 0,441
1984 15.286 8.928 3.972 0,445
1985 18.651 10.893 5.239 0,481
1986 22.288 13.017 6.029 0,463
1987 25.107 14.663 7.038 0,480
1988 30.551 17.843 8.648 0,485
1989 36.309 22.631 10.786 0,477
1990 43.822 27.347 13.483 0,493
1991 54.121 34.066 16.515 0,485
1992 62.565 39.147 18.997 0,485
1993 70.447 43.457 21.821 0,502
1994 79.891 52.181 28.608 0,548
1995 89.555 54.576 32.501 0,596
1996 98.397 58.872 36.667 0,623
1997 108.886 62.365 42.494 0,681
1998 118.398 68.405 46.920 0,686
1999 126.155 70.972 49.592 0,699
2000 136.281 76.970 54.512 0,708
2001 146.428 82.000 58.657 0,715
2002 156.615 82.756 64.236 0,776
2003 172.431 89.777 68.681 0,765
2004 185.266 96.111 75.728 0,788
2005 193.050 103.695 80.558 0,777
2006 208.893 114.379 86.006 0,752
2007 222.771 133.996 93.324 0,696
2008 232.921 135.008 98.061 0,726
2009 231.642 136.953 100.301 0,732
Sources: Eurostat, ELSTAT and authors calculations
top related