Inequality and the safety net throughout the income distribution, 1929-1940
Files
First author draft
Date
2022-02-01
DOI
Authors
Feigenbaum, James J.
Fishback, Price V.
Grayson, Keoka
Version
First author draft
OA Version
Citation
J. Feigenbaum, P.V. Fishback, K. Grayson. 2022. "Inequality and the Safety Net Throughout the Income Distribution, 1929-1940."
Abstract
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.
Description
License
© 2020 by James J. Feigenbaum, Price V. Fishback, and Keoka Grayson. A.