<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>The increase in income and wealth inequality observed in the last decade of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century is the subject of many analyses and discussions. Research shows that major changes in household incomes in Poland took place in the early years of transition (1990–1992), known as a ‘revolution in income’. The article focuses on the assessment of the degree of household income inequality after the Poland’s accession to the European Union. The most commonly used measures in income inequality studies are the measures of inequality based on the Lorenz function – a popular Gini coefficient and the Schutz ratio, measures using the concept of entropy, measures based on welfare function, or measures based on income distribution quantiles. The article proposes the possibility of broadening the measuring spectrum of income inequality analysis of the Csiszár’s divergence measures. The main research objective of the article is to assess the divergence in the distribution of household equivalent disposable income in Poland in the years 2005–2013. The data used in the analysis come from the European Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC).</p></abstract>

The increase in income and wealth inequality observed in the last decade of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century is the subject of many analyses and discussions. Research shows that major changes in household incomes in Poland took place in the early years of transition (1990–1992), known as a ‘revolution in income’. The article focuses on the assessment of the degree of household income inequality after the Poland’s accession to the European Union. The most commonly used measures in income inequality studies are the measures of inequality based on the Lorenz function – a popular Gini coefficient and the Schutz ratio, measures using the concept of entropy, measures based on welfare function, or measures based on income distribution quantiles. The article proposes the possibility of broadening the measuring spectrum of income inequality analysis of the Csiszár’s divergence measures. The main research objective of the article is to assess the divergence in the distribution of household equivalent disposable income in Poland in the years 2005–2013. The data used in the analysis come from the European Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC).

Assessment of the Degree of the Divergence and Inequality of Household Income Distribution in Poland in the Years 2005–2013

University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn, The Department of Quantitative Methods, Faculty of Economics, M. Oczapowskiego 4, 10-710 Olsztyn,

Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, The Department of Econometrics and Statistics, Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, Gagarina 13 A, 87-100 Toruń,

Folia Oeconomica Stetinensia

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The increase in income and wealth inequality observed in the last decade of the twentieth century and the first decade of the twenty-first century is the...

Assessment of the Degree of the Divergence and Inequality of Household Income Distribution in Poland in the Years 2005–2013

Published Online: Dec 30, 2016

Page range: 50 - 62

Received: Nov 10, 2015

Accepted: Jun 11, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/foli-2016-0004

Keywords
household income, income inequality, income distribution, divergence, Csiszár’s divergence measures

© 2016 University of Szczecin

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Assessment of the Degree of the Divergence and Inequality of Household Income Distribution in Poland in the Years 2005–2013

Published Online: Dec 30, 2016

Page range: 50 - 62

Received: Nov 10, 2015

Accepted: Jun 11, 2016

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/foli-2016-0004

Keywordshousehold income, income inequality, income distribution, divergence, Csiszár’s divergence measures

© 2016 University of Szczecin

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
household income, income inequality, income distribution, divergence, Csiszár’s divergence measures