2009/06/01 by Gerald Auten, Geoffrey Gee · 75 citations
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Social Sciences · #Adjusted gross income #Demographic economics #Distribution (mathematics) #Economic inequality #Economics #Fiscal Policy and Economic Growth #Gross income #Income distribution #Income tax #Income, Poverty, and Inequality #Inequality #Labor market dynamics and wage inequality #Labour economics #Net national income #Passive income #Public economics #State income tax #Tax reform #Total personal income
paper · doi:10.17310/ntj.2009.2.05
published in National Tax Journal 62(2), 301-328 (University of Chicago Press)
openalex publication_date 2009/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/22
While many studies have documented the long-term trend of increasing income inequality in the U.S. economy, there has been less focus on income mobility and the potential opportunity for upward mobility. Data from panels of individual income tax returns suggest that there was considerable income mobility in the U.S. economy over the 1987-1996 and 1996-2005 periods. Consistent with prior mobility studies, the data show that over half of taxpayers moved to a different income quintile and that roughly half of taxpayers who began in the bottom income quintile moved up to a higher income group by the end of each period. By contrast, those with the very highest incomes in the base year were more likely to drop to a lower income group and the median real income of these taxpayers declined in each period. Economic growth resulted in rising incomes for most taxpayers over both time periods. Initial position in the income distribution and changes in marital status were found to be associated with the largest upward or downward movements through the income distribution.