Explore the vast range of titles available.

We studied the development, profile, and income mobility among individuals in in-work poverty in Sweden over a period of 30 years using data covering the entire population on a yearly basis from 1987 to 2016. By introducing a more solid work requirement that stretches over more time than the frequently used ‘seven-month rule’, we make sure that the in-work poor person in our study is mainly working. Our results show that the profile has changed: in 1987, the typical in-work poor person was a native-born single woman, but in 2016, they were a married man born outside of Sweden. When modelling income mobility over two 5-year periods, our results show that changes in household composition explain both upward and downward mobility and that it has become harder to change income position. Interpreting the results on a structural level, two conclusions can be drawn. As in-work poverty is no longer female-dominated, the Swedish policy for gender equality has been successful. As it is now closely connected with immigration status, the integration of immigrants into the labour market must improve.

This paper uses the information contained in the joint dynamics of individuals' labor earnings and consumption-choice decisions to quantify both the amount of income risk that individuals face and the extent to which they have access to informal insurance against this risk. We accomplish this task by using indirect inference to estimate a structural consumption-savings model, in which individuals both learn about the nature of their income process and partly insure shocks via informal mechanisms. In this framework, we estimate (i) the degree of partial insurance, (ii) the extent of systematic differences in income growth rates, (iii) the precision with which individuals know their own income growth rates when they begin their working lives, (iv) the persistence of typical labor income shocks, (v) the tightness of borrowing constraints, and (vi) the amount of measurement error in the data. In implementing indirect inference, we find that an auxiliary model that approximates the true structural equations of the model (which are not estimable) works very well, with negligible small sample bias. The main substantive findings are that income shocks are moderately persistent, systematic differences in income growth rates are large, individuals have substantial amounts of information about their income growth rates, and about one-half of income shocks are smoothed via partial insurance. Putting these findings together, the amount of uninsurable lifetime income risk that individuals perceive is substantially smaller than what is typically assumed in calibrated macroeconomic models with incomplete markets.

We investigate the fundamental trade-off between entropy and the Gini index within income distributions, employing a stochastic framework to expose deficiencies in conventional inequality metrics. Anchored in the principle of maximum entropy (ME), we position entropy as a key marker of societal robustness, while the Gini index, identical to the (second-order) K-spread coefficient, captures spread but neglects dynamics in distribution tails. We recommend supplanting Lorenz profiles with simpler graphs such as the odds and probability density functions, and a core set of numerical indicators (K-spread K2/μ, standardized entropy Φμ, and upper and lower tail indices, ξ, ζ) for deeper diagnostics. This approach fuses ME into disparity evaluation, highlighting a path to harmonize fairness with structural endurance. Drawing from percentile records in the World Income Inequality Database from 1947 to 2023, we fit flexible models (Pareto–Burr–Feller, Dagum) and extract K-moments and tail indices. The results unveil a concave frontier: moderate Gini reductions have little effect on entropy, but aggressive equalization incurs steep stability costs. Country-level analyses (Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, Bulgaria) link entropy declines to political ruptures, positioning low entropy as a precursor to instability. On the other hand, analyses based on the core set of indicators for present-day geopolitical powers show that they are positioned in a high stability area.

I show that a covariance-based test typically used to distinguish between lifetime income models known as Heterogeneous Income Profiles and Restricted Income Profiles will lead to erroneous conclusions in the presence of time-varying factor loadings on the permanent earnings component. The magnitude of a potential estimation bias associated with this test is examined using a Monte-Carlo simulation exercise.

Public debt (as opposed to current taxation) alters the inter-temporal pattern of tax rates—it reduces current rates and increases future rates. Accordingly, whether the share of the cost of a given public expenditure is reduced or increased by debt for a given individual depends on the time profile of that individual’s income (tax base) vis-à-vis others’ incomes. Therefore, given the age-profile of income in virtually all Western countries, individuals will tend to be better off under current taxes the younger they are. If (as most standard models of political economy assume) individuals vote according to their economic interests, and if they are tolerably well-informed, then the pattern of support for public debt will track age. And increases in the median age of the population will lead to larger public debt. In other words, public debt policy collapses to a kind of demographic politics. This explanation may, however, be sensitive to assumptions about motives for bequest. Specifically, if bequestors seek to leave positive bequests and are motivated exclusively by the lifetime consumption of their heirs (as well as themselves) then the aged may, under plausible assumptions about the age of their heirs, prefer current taxes over debt.

This paper utilises National Transfer Accounts framework to estimate age profiles of consumption and income over the lifecycle in order to determine actual period of dependency in Nigeria. The paper quantifies inter-age monetary flows of consumption and labour income and subsequent economic lifecycle deficit and the implications this will have for social policy and human capital development. The results indicate that given the profiles of consumption and income over the lifecycle in Nigeria, child dependency is for the first 33 years of life while old-age dependency occurs from 63 years upwards. The period of lifecycle surplus span 30 years from 33-63 years. The structure of consumption and income flows reveals that Nigeria has a lifecycle deficit of N3.5 trillion in 2004. Since the population is highly skewed towards children, inter-generational flows are heavily skewed downwards. The deficits must then be covered through age reallocations of transfers and asset income. Cet article utilise la méthodologie des comptes de transferts pour estimer le profil de consommation et de revenu par âge à travers le cycle de vie afin de déterminer la période réelle de la dépendance au Nigéria. Le papier mesure les flux monétaires de consommation, de revenu du travail entre les âges et le déficit du cycle de vie dérivé et analyse les implications que ceci aura pour le développement de la politique sociale et de capital humain. Les résultats indiquent que compte tenu des profils de la consommation et du revenu au cours du cycle de vie au Nigéria, la dépendance des enfants a lieu pendant les 33 premières années de la vie tandis que la dépendance des personnes âgées se produit au-delà de 63 ans. La période de surplus de cycle de vie se situe entre 30 ans de 33-63 ans. La structure des flux de consommation et de revenu indique que le Nigéria a un déficit de cycle de vie de N3.5 trillion en 2004. Compte tenu du fait que la population est à forte asymétrie vers des enfants, les flux inter générationnels sont fortement biaisés. Les déficits doivent alors être couverts par des redistributions entre les âge des transferts et du revenu de capitaux.

Poor people derive most of their income from work; however, there is insufficient understanding of the role of labor markets, employment, and earnings as a linkage between growth and poverty reduction, especially in low income countries. To provide inputs into the policy discussion on how to enhance poverty reduction through increased employment and earnings for given growth levels, this study explores this linkage in the case of Nicaragua using data for 2001 and 2005. To do so, the study discusses macroeconomic growth and the labor market in Nicaragua, presenting sectoral employment and productivity profiles. A poverty profile of the labor market is developed, with an examination of the income sources and a decomposition of poverty reduction. Other topics include labor regulation, segmentation, and barriers to mobility.This report is part of a series of the studies conducted in the context of the World Bank’s research framework aiming to improve the understanding of the linkages among growth, labor, and poverty reduction.

Poor people derive most of their income from work; however, there is insufficient understanding of the role of employment and earnings as a linkage between growth and poverty reduction, especially in low income countries. With the objective of providing inputs into the policy discussion on how to enhance poverty reduction through increased employment and earnings for given growth levels, this study explores this linkage in the case of Madagascar using data from the national accounts and household surveys from the years 1999, 2001, and 2005, a period characterized among others by a short but severe crisis which started at the end of 2001 and the subsequent economic rebound. This report is part of a series of studies conducted in the context of the World Bank’s research framework aiming to improve the understanding of the linkages among growth, labor, and poverty reduction.

Governments and corporations may chip in, but around the world houshold saving is the biggest factor in national saving. To better understand why saving rates differ across countries, this volume provides the most up-to-date analyses of patterns of household saving behavior in Canada, Italy, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each of the six chapters examines micro data sets of household saving within a particular country and summarizes statistics on patterns of saving by age, income, and other demographic factors. The authors provide age-earning profiles and analyses of the accumulation of wealth over the lifetime in a clear way that allows quick comparisons between earning, consumption, and saving in the six countries. Designed as a companion to Public Policies and Household Saving (1994), which addresses saving policies in the G-7 nations, this volume offers detailed descriptions of saving behavior in all G-7 nations except France.

Three families reveal their secrets on how to afford the good life