Is Inequality Underestimated in Egypt? Evidence from House Prices

Household income surveys often fail to capture top incomes which leads to an underestimation of income inequality. A popular solution is to combine the household survey with data from income tax records, which has been found to result in significan...

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Main Authors:	van der Weide, Roy, Lakner, Christoph, Ianchovichina, Elena
Format:	Working Paper
Language:	English en_US
Published:	World Bank, Washington, DC 2016
Subjects:	HOUSEHOLD INCOMES INDICATOR FUNCTION HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SIZE INCOME SHARE ITS INCOME INTEREST POVERTY RATES SALARY EMERGING ECONOMIES EXCHANGE ECONOMIC REVIEW LABOR FORCE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME POSITIVE VALUE MORTGAGE WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS LINEAR MODEL POLICY DISCUSSIONS SALARIES HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA STANDARD PRACTICE PRICE TAX INCOME TAX CREDIT CARD SAVING DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ECONOMIC ANALYSIS SURVEY SAMPLE POPULATION CENSUS BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY SAVINGS MORTGAGES RURAL HOUSEHOLDS LABOR FORCE SURVEYS MEDIAN INCOME WAGE HOUSEHOLD HEAD INEQUALITY MEASURES REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE INCOME INEQUALITY AVERAGE INCOME GROUP MEANS GINI INDEX CROSS-COUNTRY REGRESSION INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON HOUSEHOLD INCOME HIGH INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE INDICATORS INCOME LEVELS MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES PRODUCT INEQUALITY COMPONENT REAL ESTATE AVERAGE RATE INCOME DATA EMPIRICAL APPLICATION EQUITY CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY ESTIMATES CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION POPULATION SHARE MORTGAGE MARKETS HIGH INCOMES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION HOUSEHOLD DATA INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS LINEAR RELATIONSHIP CONSUMPTION SURVEY DEVELOPING WORLD MEAN INCOME FUNCTIONAL FORM INCOME DISTRIBUTION TOTAL POPULATION INCOME COUNTRIES INCOMES INEQUALITY COUNTRIES REPRESENTATIVE “SAMPLE SHARES DOWNWARD BIAS EARNING RENTAL VALUE SURVEYS INEQUALITY MEASURE INCREASING FUNCTION CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP INEQUALITY INCOME STATISTICS SHARE DEVELOPING ECONOMY INCOME SHARES SAMPLING SURVEY DATA EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE MEASURES OF POVERTY HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES POLICY RESEARCH EXCHANGE RATE MEASURING INEQUALITY ARBITRAGE POPULATION SUB-GROUP HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE PRICES INCOME LEVEL INEQUALITY
Online Access:	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/06/26514568/inequality-underestimated-egypt-evidence-house-prices http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24645

id	okr-10986-24645
recordtype	oai_dc
spelling	okr-10986-246452021-04-23T14:04:23Z Is Inequality Underestimated in Egypt? Evidence from House Prices van der Weide, Roy Lakner, Christoph Ianchovichina, Elena HOUSEHOLD INCOMES INDICATOR FUNCTION HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SIZE INCOME SHARE ITS INCOME INTEREST POVERTY RATES SALARY EMERGING ECONOMIES EXCHANGE ECONOMIC REVIEW LABOR FORCE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME POSITIVE VALUE MORTGAGE WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS LINEAR MODEL POLICY DISCUSSIONS SALARIES HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA STANDARD PRACTICE PRICE TAX INCOME TAX CREDIT CARD SAVING DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ECONOMIC ANALYSIS SURVEY SAMPLE POPULATION CENSUS BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY SAVINGS MORTGAGES RURAL HOUSEHOLDS LABOR FORCE SURVEYS MEDIAN INCOME WAGE HOUSEHOLD HEAD INEQUALITY MEASURES REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE INCOME INEQUALITY AVERAGE INCOME GROUP MEANS GINI INDEX CROSS-COUNTRY REGRESSION INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON HOUSEHOLD INCOME HIGH INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE INDICATORS INCOME LEVELS MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES PRODUCT INEQUALITY COMPONENT REAL ESTATE AVERAGE RATE INCOME DATA EMPIRICAL APPLICATION EQUITY CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY ESTIMATES CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION POPULATION SHARE MORTGAGE MARKETS HIGH INCOMES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION HOUSEHOLD DATA INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS LINEAR RELATIONSHIP CONSUMPTION SURVEY DEVELOPING WORLD MEAN INCOME FUNCTIONAL FORM INCOME DISTRIBUTION TOTAL POPULATION INCOME COUNTRIES INCOMES INEQUALITY COUNTRIES REPRESENTATIVE “SAMPLE SHARES DOWNWARD BIAS EARNING RENTAL VALUE SURVEYS INEQUALITY MEASURE INCREASING FUNCTION CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP INEQUALITY INCOME STATISTICS SHARE DEVELOPING ECONOMY INCOME SHARES SAMPLING SURVEY DATA EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE MEASURES OF POVERTY HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES POLICY RESEARCH EXCHANGE RATE MEASURING INEQUALITY ARBITRAGE POPULATION SUB-GROUP HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE PRICES INCOME LEVEL INEQUALITY Household income surveys often fail to capture top incomes which leads to an underestimation of income inequality. A popular solution is to combine the household survey with data from income tax records, which has been found to result in significant upward corrections of inequality estimates. Unfortunately, tax records are unavailable in many countries, including most of the developing world. In the absence of data from tax records, this study explores the feasibility of using data on house prices to estimate the top tail of the income distribution. In an application to Egypt, where estimates of inequality based on household surveys alone are low by international standards, the study finds strong evidence that inequality is indeed being underestimated by a considerable margin. The Gini index for urban Egypt is found to increase from 36 to 47 after correcting for the missing top tail. 2016-07-07T21:47:43Z 2016-07-07T21:47:43Z 2016-06 Working Paper http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/06/26514568/inequality-underestimated-egypt-evidence-house-prices http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24645 English en_US Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7727 CC BY 3.0 IGO http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/igo/ World Bank World Bank, Washington, DC Publications & Research Publications & Research :: Policy Research Working Paper Middle East and North Africa Egypt, Arab Republic of
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Foreign Institution
institution	Digital Repositories
building	World Bank Open Knowledge Repository
collection	World Bank
language	English en_US
topic	HOUSEHOLD INCOMES INDICATOR FUNCTION HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SIZE INCOME SHARE ITS INCOME INTEREST POVERTY RATES SALARY EMERGING ECONOMIES EXCHANGE ECONOMIC REVIEW LABOR FORCE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME POSITIVE VALUE MORTGAGE WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS LINEAR MODEL POLICY DISCUSSIONS SALARIES HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA STANDARD PRACTICE PRICE TAX INCOME TAX CREDIT CARD SAVING DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ECONOMIC ANALYSIS SURVEY SAMPLE POPULATION CENSUS BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY SAVINGS MORTGAGES RURAL HOUSEHOLDS LABOR FORCE SURVEYS MEDIAN INCOME WAGE HOUSEHOLD HEAD INEQUALITY MEASURES REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE INCOME INEQUALITY AVERAGE INCOME GROUP MEANS GINI INDEX CROSS-COUNTRY REGRESSION INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON HOUSEHOLD INCOME HIGH INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE INDICATORS INCOME LEVELS MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES PRODUCT INEQUALITY COMPONENT REAL ESTATE AVERAGE RATE INCOME DATA EMPIRICAL APPLICATION EQUITY CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY ESTIMATES CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION POPULATION SHARE MORTGAGE MARKETS HIGH INCOMES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION HOUSEHOLD DATA INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS LINEAR RELATIONSHIP CONSUMPTION SURVEY DEVELOPING WORLD MEAN INCOME FUNCTIONAL FORM INCOME DISTRIBUTION TOTAL POPULATION INCOME COUNTRIES INCOMES INEQUALITY COUNTRIES REPRESENTATIVE “SAMPLE SHARES DOWNWARD BIAS EARNING RENTAL VALUE SURVEYS INEQUALITY MEASURE INCREASING FUNCTION CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP INEQUALITY INCOME STATISTICS SHARE DEVELOPING ECONOMY INCOME SHARES SAMPLING SURVEY DATA EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE MEASURES OF POVERTY HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES POLICY RESEARCH EXCHANGE RATE MEASURING INEQUALITY ARBITRAGE POPULATION SUB-GROUP HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE PRICES INCOME LEVEL INEQUALITY
spellingShingle	HOUSEHOLD INCOMES INDICATOR FUNCTION HOUSEHOLD SURVEY HOUSEHOLD SIZE INCOME SHARE ITS INCOME INTEREST POVERTY RATES SALARY EMERGING ECONOMIES EXCHANGE ECONOMIC REVIEW LABOR FORCE DEVELOPING COUNTRIES DISTRIBUTION OF INCOME POSITIVE VALUE MORTGAGE WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS LINEAR MODEL POLICY DISCUSSIONS SALARIES HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA STANDARD PRACTICE PRICE TAX INCOME TAX CREDIT CARD SAVING DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ECONOMIC ANALYSIS SURVEY SAMPLE POPULATION CENSUS BETWEEN-GROUP INEQUALITY SAVINGS MORTGAGES RURAL HOUSEHOLDS LABOR FORCE SURVEYS MEDIAN INCOME WAGE HOUSEHOLD HEAD INEQUALITY MEASURES REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE INCOME INEQUALITY AVERAGE INCOME GROUP MEANS GINI INDEX CROSS-COUNTRY REGRESSION INTERNATIONAL COMPARISON HOUSEHOLD INCOME HIGH INCOME HOUSEHOLD SURVEYS CONSUMPTION EXPENDITURE INDICATORS INCOME LEVELS MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES PRODUCT INEQUALITY COMPONENT REAL ESTATE AVERAGE RATE INCOME DATA EMPIRICAL APPLICATION EQUITY CONSUMPTION INEQUALITY ESTIMATES CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION POPULATION SHARE MORTGAGE MARKETS HIGH INCOMES DEPENDENT VARIABLE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION HOUSEHOLD DATA INCOME DISTRIBUTIONS LINEAR RELATIONSHIP CONSUMPTION SURVEY DEVELOPING WORLD MEAN INCOME FUNCTIONAL FORM INCOME DISTRIBUTION TOTAL POPULATION INCOME COUNTRIES INCOMES INEQUALITY COUNTRIES REPRESENTATIVE “SAMPLE SHARES DOWNWARD BIAS EARNING RENTAL VALUE SURVEYS INEQUALITY MEASURE INCREASING FUNCTION CUMULATIVE DISTRIBUTION FUNCTION ECONOMIC INEQUALITY ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT GROUP INEQUALITY INCOME STATISTICS SHARE DEVELOPING ECONOMY INCOME SHARES SAMPLING SURVEY DATA EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE MEASURES OF POVERTY HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURES POLICY RESEARCH EXCHANGE RATE MEASURING INEQUALITY ARBITRAGE POPULATION SUB-GROUP HOUSEHOLD EXPENDITURE PRICES INCOME LEVEL INEQUALITY van der Weide, Roy Lakner, Christoph Ianchovichina, Elena Is Inequality Underestimated in Egypt? Evidence from House Prices
geographic_facet	Middle East and North Africa Egypt, Arab Republic of
relation	Policy Research Working Paper;No. 7727
description	Household income surveys often fail to capture top incomes which leads to an underestimation of income inequality. A popular solution is to combine the household survey with data from income tax records, which has been found to result in significant upward corrections of inequality estimates. Unfortunately, tax records are unavailable in many countries, including most of the developing world. In the absence of data from tax records, this study explores the feasibility of using data on house prices to estimate the top tail of the income distribution. In an application to Egypt, where estimates of inequality based on household surveys alone are low by international standards, the study finds strong evidence that inequality is indeed being underestimated by a considerable margin. The Gini index for urban Egypt is found to increase from 36 to 47 after correcting for the missing top tail.
format	Working Paper
author	van der Weide, Roy Lakner, Christoph Ianchovichina, Elena
author_facet	van der Weide, Roy Lakner, Christoph Ianchovichina, Elena
author_sort	van der Weide, Roy
title	Is Inequality Underestimated in Egypt? Evidence from House Prices
title_short	Is Inequality Underestimated in Egypt? Evidence from House Prices
title_full	Is Inequality Underestimated in Egypt? Evidence from House Prices
title_fullStr	Is Inequality Underestimated in Egypt? Evidence from House Prices
title_full_unstemmed	Is Inequality Underestimated in Egypt? Evidence from House Prices
title_sort	is inequality underestimated in egypt? evidence from house prices
publisher	World Bank, Washington, DC
publishDate	2016
url	http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2016/06/26514568/inequality-underestimated-egypt-evidence-house-prices http://hdl.handle.net/10986/24645
_version_	1764457264096215040

Is Inequality Underestimated in Egypt? Evidence from House Prices

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