Distributional National Accounts Guidelines Methods and Concepts Used in the World Inequality Database This version: June 28, 2021 Coordinators Thomas Blanchet Lucas Chancel Ignacio Flores Marc Morgan Contributors Facundo Alvaredo Bertrand Garbinti Anne-Sophie Robilliard Anthony B. Atkinson † Jonathan Goupille-Lebret Emmanuel Saez Luis Bauluz Clara Martínez-Toledano Li Yang Matthew Fisher-Post Theresa Neef Gabriel Zucman Thomas Piketty † Honorary Member, In Memoriam 2 3 This is an updated and extended version of the DINA Guidelines first published as WID Working Paper 2016/2. 4 Contents Introduction 9 I Concepts 17 1 Measurement Concepts 19 1.1 Unit of Observation . 19 1.1.1 Total and Adult Resident Population . 21 1.1.2 Individualistic Adults . 21 1.1.3 Equal-split Adults . 23 1.1.4 Per Capita Equal-split . 24 1.1.5 Equivalence Scales . 24 1.2 Prices and Currency Conversion . 25 1.2.1 Price Index . 26 1.2.2 Currency Conversion . 27 1.2.2.1 Market Exchange Rates and Purchasing Power Parities . 28 1.2.2.2 Estimation of Currency Conversion Factors . 29 1.2.2.3 Combining Currency Conversion and Price Indexes . 30 1.3 Measures of the Distribution . 31 1.3.1 Synthetic Microfiles . 32 1.3.2 Series by g-percentiles . 33 Key Points . 34 2 Income Concepts 35 2.1 Aggregate Income . 37 2.1.1 Net National Income . 37 2.1.1.1 Net Foreign Income . 38 5 6 CONTENTS 2.1.1.2 Consumption of Fixed Capital . 41 2.1.2 Sectorial Decomposition of Net National Income . 41 2.1.2.1 Income of Households and NPISH . 43 2.1.2.1.1 Income of Households . 43 2.1.2.1.2 Income of NPISH . 48 2.1.2.2 Income of Corporations . 48 2.1.2.3 Income of the General Government . 49 2.1.3 Labor and Capital Share of Income . 51 2.2 Income Distribution . 52 2.2.1 Inequality Measurement and the National Accounts . 53 2.2.1.1 Undistributed Profits and the Corporate Tax . 53 2.2.1.2 Taxes on Production . 55 2.2.1.3 In-Kind Transfers and Collective Expenditures . 56 2.2.2 Pretax Factor Income . 56 2.2.2.1 Distribution of Undistributed Profits . 57 2.2.2.2 Distribution of Taxes . 57 2.2.2.3 Distribution of the Property Income of the Government . 60 2.2.3 Pretax, Post-replacement Income . 60 2.2.3.1 Broad vs. Pension-Based . 61 2.2.3.2 Surplus or Deficit of Social Insurance Systems . 62 2.2.4 Post-Tax Disposable Income . 64 2.2.5 Post-Tax National Income . 64 2.2.5.1 Allocation of Government Spending . 64 2.2.5.2 Allocation of Government Surplus or Deficit . 66 Key Points . 67 3 Wealth Concepts 69 3.1 Personal and Nonprofit Wealth . 70 3.1.1 Stock of Wealth . 70 3.1.1.1 Decomposition of the Stock of Wealth . 70 3.1.1.2 Wealth vs. Capital . 73 3.1.2 Rates of Return . 73 3.2 Private and Public Wealth . 76 3.2.1 Private Wealth . 76 3.2.2 Public Wealth . 76 CONTENTS 7 3.3 National Wealth . 77 3.3.1 Residual Wealth of Corporations . 77 3.3.2 Book-value vs. Market-value National Wealth . 78 Key Points . 81 II Methods 83 4 Macroeconomic Accounts 85 4.1 Income, Prices and Populations . 85 4.1.1 Estimations of Main Aggregates . 86 4.1.1.1 Estimation of Population . 86 4.1.1.2 Estimation of GDP . 87 4.1.1.3 Estimation of the Price Index . 88 4.1.2 Estimation of National Income and its Components . 88 4.1.2.1 Estimation of Components . 88 4.1.2.2 Imputation of Consumption of Fixed Capital . 91 4.1.2.3 Estimation of Income from Assets Hidden in Tax Havens . 95 4.1.2.4 Estimation of Foreign Retained Earnings . 95 4.2 Wealth . 98 Key Points . 100 5 Income Distribution Series 101 5.1 Preparing Tax Microdata . 102 5.2 Preparing Survey Microdata . 103 5.2.1 Interpolation of Tax Tabulations . 104 5.2.1.1 Combining Survey and Tax Data . 104 5.2.1.2 Overall Method . 106 5.2.1.3 Extensions . 109 5.3 Distributing Tax-exempt and Other Unreported Incomes . 112 5.3.1 Imputed Rents . 112 5.3.1.1 Property Income Paid . 114 5.3.1.2 Investment Income Disbursements . 114 5.3.2 Undistributed Corporate Profits . 115 5.3.3 Tax-Exempt Property Income . 115 5.3.4 Social Contributions . 116 8 CONTENTS 5.3.5 Direct Taxes on Income and Wealth . 117 5.3.6 Indirect Taxes . 117 5.3.7 Benefits . 118 5.4 Rescaling to Macroeconomic Aggregates . 118 5.4.1 Labor Incomes . 119 5.4.2 Capital Income . 120 Key Points . 121 6 Wealth Distribution Series 123 6.1 The Capitalization Method . 124 6.2 Imputations of Other Assets and Liabilities . 125 6.3 Reconciliation with the Estate Multiplier Method . 126 6.4 Wealth in Surveys and Tax Tabulations . 130 Key Points . 131 7 Countries with Limited Data 133 7.1 Countries with Tabulated Survey Data . 134 7.1.1 From Survey Tabulations to Survey Distributions . 134 7.1.2 From Survey Consumption to Survey Income . 135 7.1.3 From Survey Income to Fiscal Income . 136 7.1.4 From Fiscal Income to National Income . 137 7.1.4.1 Proportional Allocation . 139 7.1.4.2 Reduced-form Estimation . 139 7.1.4.3 Copula-based Methods . 140 7.1.4.4 Share of Missing Income Received by Percentile Groups . 141 7.1.5 Adjusting the Statistical Unit . 142 7.1.6 Inferences within the Top Tail . 142 7.2 Combining Survey Tabulation with Tax Data . 143 7.2.1 Adjusting Tax Data . 143 7.2.2 Adjusting Survey Tabulations . 144 7.2.3 Combining Survey Tabulations with Top Shares . 144 7.2.3.1 Method 1: Re-ranking . 147 7.2.3.2 Method 2: Constraining . 147 7.3 Wealth . 148 Key Points . 150 CONTENTS 9 8 Regional and Global Inequality 151 8.1 Global Income Inequality Estimates . 151 8.2 Regional Income Inequality Updates . 153 8.3 Countries with No Income Inequality Data . 154 8.4 Global Wealth Aggregation . 154 8.5 Global Agricultural Land Inequality . 154 Key Points . 157 9 Data Quality and Transparency Measures 159 9.1 Inequality Transparency Index . 159 9.2 Series Quality Grades . 160 9.3 Improving Income and Wealth Inequality Data . 160 Key Points . 165 List of Tables 166 List of Figures 168 Acronyms 171 Index 175 Bibliography 181 10 CONTENTS Introduction The purpose of these Distributional National Accounts (DINA) guidelines is to.