Income Inequality: Can Employment Changes Explain Rising Income Inequality in Germany?

Abstract

From 2000 to 2005, Germany experienced an unprecedented rise in net equivalized income inequality and poverty. At the same time, unemployment rose to record levels and overall employment stagnated, suggesting that changes in households’ conditional employment outcomes were partly responsible for the inequality increase observed. Using DiNardo /Fortin /Lemieux’s semiparametric kernel density reweighting method, we examine what part of the inequality and poverty increase can be accounted for by changes in households’ conditional employment outcomes. Our results suggest that employment outcomes explain only around 14 percent of the inequality increase observed, and around 23 percent of the poverty increase observed, leaving plenty of room for the contribution of other factors.