To offer a possible interpretation for recent empirical findings on earnings growth, this paper constructs a simple model with endogenous human capital investment, a distribution of natural abilities, and unbiased technological progress. The model predicts that in the long run, average earnings...

To offer a possible interpretation for recent empirical findings on earnings growth, this paper constructs a simple model with endogenous human capital investment, a distribution of natural abilities, and unbiased technological progress. The model predicts that in the long run, average earnings...

Over the last decade or so, a substantial effort has gone into the design of a series of methodological investigations aimed at enhancing the quality of survey data on income and wealth. These investigations have largely been conducted at the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan,...

Over the last decade or so, a substantial effort has gone into the design of a series of methodological investigations aimed at enhancing the quality of survey data on income and wealth. These investigations have largely been conducted at the Survey Research Center at the University of Michigan,...

In the past decade, researchers have made substantial improvements to survey questions that allow them to obtain more accurate information from survey respondents about income and wealth. However, changing survey questions - even for the better - can create problems. For example, if we ask a...

We conduct a systematic empirical study of cross-sectional inequality in the United States, integrating data from the Current Population Survey, the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, the Consumer Expenditure Survey, and the Survey of Consumer Finances. In order to understand how different...

What shapes the optimal degree of progressivity of the tax and transfer system? On the one hand, a progressive tax system can counteract inequality in initial conditions and substitute for imperfect private insurance against idiosyncratic earnings risk. At the same time, progressivity reduces...