Income Inequality in the United States: Using Tax Data to Measure Long-Term Trends
利用税收数据修正了以往研究中因税基变化、社会变迁和收入来源缺失导致的偏差，重新估算了1960年以来美国国民收入的分布情况，发现税前顶层收入份额低于此前研究，且1980年后增幅较小；同时政府转移支付和累进税制使所有收入群体实际收入上升，税后顶层份额变化不大。
Concerns about income inequality emphasize the importance of accurate income measures. Estimates of top income shares based only on individual tax returns are biased by tax-base changes, social changes, and missing income sources. This paper addresses these shortcomings and presents new estimates of the distribution of national income since 1960. Our analysis of pretax income shows that top income shares are lower and have increased less since 1980 than other studies using tax data. In addition, increasing government transfers and tax progressivity have resulted in rising real incomes for all income groups and little change in aftertax top income shares.