{"title":"为什么劳动力市场的繁荣不一定会降低不平等:拼凑德国的不平等难题","authors":"Martin Biewen, Miriam Sturm","doi":"10.1111/1475-5890.12294","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>After an economically tough start to the new millennium, Germany experienced an unprecedented employment boom after 2005, only stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Persistently high levels of inequality despite a booming labour market and drastically falling unemployment rates constituted a puzzle, suggesting either that the German job miracle mainly benefitted individuals in the mid- or high-income range or that other developments offset the effects of the drastically improved labour market conditions. The present paper solves this puzzle by breaking down the observed changes in the distribution of disposable incomes between 2005–06 and 2015–16 into the contributions of eight different factors, one of them being the employment boom. Our results suggest that, while the latter did have an equalising impact, it was partially offset by the disequalising impact of other factors, and substantially dampened by the transfer system. Our results point to a strong role of the German transfer system as a distributional stabiliser implying that, if the COVID-19 shock were to persistently reverse all the employment gains that occurred during the boom, this would only have a moderately disequalising effect on the distribution of net incomes.</p>","PeriodicalId":51602,"journal":{"name":"Fiscal Studies","volume":"43 2","pages":"121-149"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2000,"publicationDate":"2022-02-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1475-5890.12294","citationCount":"2","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Why a labour market boom does not necessarily bring down inequality: putting together Germany's inequality puzzle\",\"authors\":\"Martin Biewen, Miriam Sturm\",\"doi\":\"10.1111/1475-5890.12294\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p>After an economically tough start to the new millennium, Germany experienced an unprecedented employment boom after 2005, only stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Persistently high levels of inequality despite a booming labour market and drastically falling unemployment rates constituted a puzzle, suggesting either that the German job miracle mainly benefitted individuals in the mid- or high-income range or that other developments offset the effects of the drastically improved labour market conditions. The present paper solves this puzzle by breaking down the observed changes in the distribution of disposable incomes between 2005–06 and 2015–16 into the contributions of eight different factors, one of them being the employment boom. Our results suggest that, while the latter did have an equalising impact, it was partially offset by the disequalising impact of other factors, and substantially dampened by the transfer system. Our results point to a strong role of the German transfer system as a distributional stabiliser implying that, if the COVID-19 shock were to persistently reverse all the employment gains that occurred during the boom, this would only have a moderately disequalising effect on the distribution of net incomes.</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":51602,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Fiscal Studies\",\"volume\":\"43 2\",\"pages\":\"121-149\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":2.2000,\"publicationDate\":\"2022-02-16\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/1475-5890.12294\",\"citationCount\":\"2\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Fiscal Studies\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"96\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-5890.12294\",\"RegionNum\":3,\"RegionCategory\":\"经济学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q2\",\"JCRName\":\"BUSINESS, FINANCE\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Fiscal Studies","FirstCategoryId":"96","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/1475-5890.12294","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"BUSINESS, FINANCE","Score":null,"Total":0}
Why a labour market boom does not necessarily bring down inequality: putting together Germany's inequality puzzle
After an economically tough start to the new millennium, Germany experienced an unprecedented employment boom after 2005, only stopped by the COVID-19 pandemic. Persistently high levels of inequality despite a booming labour market and drastically falling unemployment rates constituted a puzzle, suggesting either that the German job miracle mainly benefitted individuals in the mid- or high-income range or that other developments offset the effects of the drastically improved labour market conditions. The present paper solves this puzzle by breaking down the observed changes in the distribution of disposable incomes between 2005–06 and 2015–16 into the contributions of eight different factors, one of them being the employment boom. Our results suggest that, while the latter did have an equalising impact, it was partially offset by the disequalising impact of other factors, and substantially dampened by the transfer system. Our results point to a strong role of the German transfer system as a distributional stabiliser implying that, if the COVID-19 shock were to persistently reverse all the employment gains that occurred during the boom, this would only have a moderately disequalising effect on the distribution of net incomes.
期刊介绍:
The Institute for Fiscal Studies publishes the journal Fiscal Studies, which serves as a bridge between academic research and policy. This esteemed journal, established in 1979, has gained global recognition for its publication of high-quality and original research papers. The articles, authored by prominent academics, policymakers, and practitioners, are presented in an accessible format, ensuring a broad international readership.