Uninterrupted Growth, Redistribution and Inequality: The Australian Case 1991-2020

Uninterrupted Growth, Redistribution and Inequality: The Australian Case 1991-2020 | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Uninterrupted Growth, Redistribution and Inequality: The Australian Case 1991-2020 Chung Tran, Nabeeh Zakariyya This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-3909489/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract To what extent can a progressive tax and transfer system moderate the distributional impacts of uneven economic growth? We revisit this question in the unique Australian context of three decades of uninterrupted economic growth from 1991 to 2020. We use longitudinal tax records of millions of Australian taxpayers to examine the distributional impacts of uneven growth and the redistributive role of progressive income taxes and targeted transfers. Our results indicate that the uneven distribution of income growth, favoring higher income groups of taxpayers, shapes a rising trend in market income inequality. The increased progressivity of the tax and transfer system has been instrumental in moderating these uneven gains across dierent groups. While inter-cohort income inequality has risen over time, lifetime inequality within cohorts has remained relatively lower and more stable, revealing potentially biased conclusions drawn from cross-sectional analyses. Employing a dynamic general equilibrium lifecycle model, we highlight the trade-offs between effciency and equity when implementing more progressive tax and transfer policies. Thus, our findings suggest that accounting for taxes and transfers, and lifetime income materially affects measures of inequality. JEL: E62, H24, H31 Growth Inequality Taxation Progressivity Redistribution Administrative data Dynamic general equilibrium Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-3909489","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":271681516,"identity":"b83e3d8c-1891-4113-8a6b-7d3470d372b4","order_by":0,"name":"Chung Tran","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA40lEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACCTiL+QCEPkCcFgMgZksgWQuPAXFa+Gf3mD38wvAnH8j4+LmwjUGO70YC42cefJbcOWNuLMNgYDnjztnN0jPbGIwlbyQwS+PTYiCRYyYtwWBgwHAjd4M0bxtD4oYbCQzEaZG/kfP4N1BLPVAL829CWiQ/ALUY3MhhA9mSYHAjgQ2vLRI30sqkGQyMDQxvpJlZ85yTMJx55mGb5Rw8WvhnJG+T/FEhZyB3I/nxbZ4yG3m+48mHb7zBowUEmGExwgCJJsYGAhqASn4QVDIKRsEoGAUjGgAAd6FD9cQGQ68AAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Australian National University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Chung","middleName":"","lastName":"Tran","suffix":""},{"id":271681517,"identity":"18d98c4d-119f-4800-b8d1-6242530938c5","order_by":1,"name":"Nabeeh Zakariyya","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Australian National University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Nabeeh","middleName":"","lastName":"Zakariyya","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-01-30 00:44:11","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3909489/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3909489/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":50898192,"identity":"1650fb94-d720-4c3b-8b82-98cb75e6d1b3","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-02-09 07:29:13","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1957532,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"ManuscriptJEG.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-3909489/v1_covered_0478cf2c-f680-49f0-bfa6-df97979a3747.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Uninterrupted Growth, Redistribution and Inequality: The Australian Case 1991-2020","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Growth, Inequality, Taxation, Progressivity, Redistribution, Administrative data, Dynamic general equilibrium","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-3909489/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-3909489/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eTo what extent can a progressive tax and transfer system moderate the distributional impacts of uneven economic growth? 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