Inequality and the Safety Net Throughout the Income Distribution, 1929-1940 / James J. Feigenbaum, Price V. Fishback, Keoka Grayson.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Feigenbaum, James J.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Fishback, Price V.

Grayson, Keoka.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w27069.

NBER working paper series no. w27069

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2020.

Summary:

We explored two measures of inequality that described the full income distribution in cities. One measure is an income gini based on family incomes in 1929 for 33 cities and in 1933 for up to 48 cities in 1933 were spread throughout the country. We also estimated gini coefficients that made use of contract rents for renters and implicit rents for home owners for up to 955 cities throughout the country. We were able to expand to all counties when looking at a top-end inequality measure, the number of taxpayers per family. All three measures varied substantially across the country. We show the correlations between the various measures and also estimate the relationship between the measures and various relief programs developed by governments at all levels during the period.

Notes:

Print version record

May 2020.