Top 1 Percent Income Shares: Comparing Estimates Using Tax Data

Many studies have used tax data to measure the U.S. income distribution, but their results vary widely. For example, in 2014 the top 1 percent share of income is 21.5 percent in Piketty and Saez (2003 and updates), 16.7 percent in the Congressional Budget Office (2018), and 13.1 percent in our analysis. What accounts for such large differences? We provide a step-by-step analysis of how methodological differences affect the results and address issues raised in Piketty, Saez, and Zucman (2018, 2019). Important differences include accounting for declining marriage rates, including social insurance and employer benefits, accounting for tax reforms, and including income missing from tax returns.

Work-Life -Balance in Qatar: Implementing Tows Analysis as a Variant of the Classic Strategic Tool, SWOT

Purpose The overall goal of this paper is to explore via Gap and TOWS analysis if organizations are offering innovative benefits from the perspective of married employees that make being a working dad or mom easier in Qatar. Design/methodology/approach A large convenient sample of 824 working Qataris were surveyed, using a 15-item instrument based on previous research. The researchers used factor analysis to ascertain construct validity, based on two suitability tests: First, the Kaisers-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) measure of sampling adequacy generated a score of 0.807, well above the recommended level of 0.50. Second, the Bartless test of sphericity result was significant (Chi Square = 2079.671, P= 0.00), indicating that there are adequate inter-correlations between the items which allow the use of factor analysis. Findings Findings of the gap analysis validate the trust – building model between leaders and followers from the employee’s perspective. The responses identified in this study enhance the trust in leaders who behave ethically, treat employees fairly, and promote work-life balance. This is an indication that Qatar’s National Vision 2030 introduced by Qatar government is transforming organizations’ values and attitudes in Qatar so that they perform beyond expectations. Additionally, findings of TWOS analysis identified four employer benefits items that are considered opportunities and eight employer benefits items that are identified as threats for the organizations in Qatar as a whole. Also, findings of path analysis confirm that the impact of “gap in perceived supervisor support” on “gap in perceived development of a caring organization” is strengthened via the intervening of “gap in perceived child-friendly working hours” and “gap in perceived parental leave”. Originality Qatar’s National Vision 2030 has set new future trends that demand changes in organizational culture and the empirical findings of this article should help decision and policy makers in Qatar to determine where change is possible and to focus on priorities as well as possibilities.

Paying for Early Retirement

ABSTRACTThe paper looks at the relative importance of state benefits, employer benefits and private sources in supporting early retired men. Using data from various administrative sources, the General Household Survey and the Family Expenditure Survey, it shows how the increase in early retirement which occurred between 1979 and 1986 went hand in hand both with a greater reliance on means-tested benefits and a greater reliance on employer benefits. Although the income of the early retired was well above the minimum accorded by the ‘income support’ system, there were major differences between subgroups of the early retired—those dependent solely on state benefits and those with other sources of income, private and personal—and these differences have become more pronounced over time. Finally, the paper looks at the total costs of early retirement: to the state, to employers and to the early retired themselves. Total costs ballooned between 1979 and 1986. Much of the extra expenditure on benefits fell on employers, but the early retired themselves, through accepting a considerable reduction in their income, bore the bulk of the costs of early retirement.