Differential Income Growth of Individuals in New Zealand: Evidence from Administrative Data

Abstract

This paper uses administrative, longitudinal data on the New Zealand taxpayer population to examine the nature and extent of income mobility by individuals. It uses recently developed illustrative devices for mobility measures based on individuals' relative income growth over time, for periods of 1 to 15 years, during 2002 to 2017. Results highlight consistently higher (lower) relative income growth for those with initially lower (higher) incomes, reflecting strong 'regression to the mean' processes.