From Disposable Income to Residual Income: A Decomposition of Inequality in Austria.

Autor/inn/en	Neuhuber, Tatjana; Schneider, Antonia Elisabeth
Titel	From Disposable Income to Residual Income: A Decomposition of Inequality in Austria. Gefälligkeitsübersetzung: Vom verfügbaren Einkommen zum passiven Einkommen: Eine Aufschlüsselung der Ungleichheit in Österreich.
Quelle	In: Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, 52 (2026) 1, S. 23-55 PDF als Volltext kostenfreie Datei Link als defekt meldenVerfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
DOI	10.59288/wug521.23-55
Schlagwörter	Soziale Ungleichheit; Bildungskosten; Wohnen; Gesundheit; Energie; Einkommensverteilung; Konsum; Kosten; Kostenstruktur; Lebenshaltungskosten; Lebensstandard; Privathaushalt; Verfügbares Einkommen; Auswirkung; Regionaler Vergleich; Österreich
Abstract	"Income inequality is commonly measured using disposable household income, yet this approach ignores the necessary expenditures households must incur. When costs such as housing, energy, food, and transport absorb a substantial share of resources, disposable income may misrepresent effective living standards. This paper analyses income inequality in Austria using a residual income perspective that deducts essential expenditures from equivalised household income. Using representative microdata on 6,873 households, we compare inequality levels based on disposable and residual income, apply a Lerman-Yitzhaki Gini decomposition to identify the contribution of individual expenditure categories, and examine re-ranking within the income distribution using transition matrices and subgroup analyses. We find that inequality is substantially higher when measured on residual income, indicating that conventional measures understate disparities in disposable monetary resources. While income remains the dominant structural determinant of inequality, necessary expenditures exert heterogeneous effects. Housing costs, particularly rent, increase inequality, whereas other necessities exhibit neutral or mildly equalising effects. Re-ranking analysis shows a significant reallocation of households in the lower and middle parts of the income distribution, with pronounced regional and household-type differences. These findings highlight the central role of necessary costs in shaping inequality and demonstrate the value of residual income measures for assessing living standards." The study refers to the period 2019-2020 (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku).
Erfasst von	Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung, Nürnberg
Update	2026/4