Valuable information exists already on household economic resources. The national accounts provide
aggregate measures and micro sources (surveys, administrative records, and censuses) can be used to
derive measures of the distribution across households groups. Over the years, however, macro and micro
statisticians have tended to work separately leading to sometimes divergent results which can cause
problem to users. In 2011, the OECD and Eurostat launched a joint Expert Group to carry out a study on
the feasibility of compiling measures of the distribution of income, consumption and wealth across
household groups that are consistent with national accounts definitions and totals. As part of the Expert
Group, national experts from 16 countries performed experimental calculations using all the detailed micro
and macro information available at the national level and following the same framework and methodology.
The experimental results obtained are presented in this paper. They show disparities in household income
and consumption, including Social Transfers in Kind, and in household saving for different groups of
households: by income quintile; by main source of income; and by household type. The main
methodological issues related to this exercise are described. The paper also illustrates the number of
assumptions that are required to produce estimates on distribution across households consistent with
national accounts definitions and totals.
Distributional Measures Across Household Groups in a National Accounts Framework
Results from an Experimental Cross-country Exercise on Household Income, Consumption and Saving
Working paper
OECD Statistics Working Papers
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Abstract
In the same series
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5 September 2024
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Working paper18 September 2023