Income and Distribution Analysis with the Taxpayer-Panel - New Prospects and First Results for Self-Employed, as Freelancers and Entrepeneurs, and Employees as Well as for High Incomes

Abstract:     
This contribution analyzes the personal income distribution with the actual microdata of the German Income Tax Statistics and focus on top incomes for important labour market groups: the self-employed (as freelancers and entrepreneurs) and employees. New are the first longitudinal results based on the just available three waves 2001, 2002 and 2003 of the Taxpayer-Panel, a panel, which for the first time in Germany follows the individual taxpayers’ situations. With these paneldata we are able to show first impressions about the income mobility of high incomes in particular and to give hints about the research potential with this may be worldwide genuine individual panel tax data.

Central result: The incomes of the self-employed strongly fluctuate for entrepreneurs (tradesmen) but not for liberal professions (freelancer). Freelancer will be rich more frequently and are more frequently rich than the other self-employed. Only relatively few employees were getting rich from 2001 to 2003. In addition, employees (with entrepreneurs) most frequently decline from being rich.

This study is a contribution for the “Festschrift” according to the 65th birthday of Johann Hahlen and the 75th birthday of Hans-Jürgen Krupp (Rolf, Gabriele, Zwick, Markus und Gert G. Wagner (Hrsg.), Fortschritte der informationellen Infrasruktur in Deutschland, will be published by Nomos publisher).

Number of Pages in PDF File: 32

Keywords: Personal Income Distribution, top income, panel analysis, taxpayer-panel, Income Tax Statistic, selfemployed, liberal professions (freelancer), entrepreneurs, employees

JEL Classification: D30, D31, J10, J44

Accepted Paper Series