Economic Inequality and Mobility

Research activity in this area is concerned with the distribution, dynamics, determinants and effects of measures of economic wellbeing such as household income, wealth and expenditure. Issues examined include levels and persistence of socio-economic disadvantage, the extent and nature of economic mobility, and the structure and distribution of wealth.

Publications

2014

• Wilkins, R.
  'Evaluating the Evidence on Income Inequality in Australia in the 2000s'
  The Economic Record, vol. 90, no. 288, pp. 63–89.

2013

• Burkhauser, R.V., Hahn, M. and Wilkins, R.
  'Measuring Top Incomes Using Tax Record Data: A Cautionary Tale from Australia'
  NBER Working Paper 19121, NBER, Cambridge, Massachusetts, (also Melbourne Institute Working Paper 24/13).
• Burnett, J., Davis, K., Murawski, C., Wilkins, R. and Wilkinson, N.
  'Measuring Retirement Savings Adequacy in Australia'
  JASSA: The Finsia Journal of Applied Finance, vol. 4, pp. 28–35.
• Scutella, R., Wilkins, R. and Kostenko, W.
  'Intensity and Persistence of Individuals’ Social Exclusion in Australia'
  Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 273–298.

• Wilkins, R.
  'Evaluating the Evidence on Income Inequality in Australia in the 2000s'
  Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Working Paper Series No. 26/13.

2011

• Horn, M. Scutella, R. and Wilkins, R.
  'Social Exclusion Monitor Bulletin'
  Brotherhood of St Laurence and Melbourne Institute Research Bulletin, September.

2010

• Wooden, M.
  'An Unfair Safety Net?'
  Australian Bulletin of Labour, vol. 36, no. 3, pp. 321–326.

2009

• Cardak, B. and Wilkins, R.
  'The Determinants of Household Risky Asset Holdings: Australian Evidence on Background Risk and Other Factors'
  Journal of Banking and Finance, vol. 33, no. 5, pp. 850–860.
• Hahn, M. and Wilkins, R.
  'A Multidimensional Approach to Investigation of Living Standards of the Low-Paid: Income, Wealth, Financial Stress and Consumption Expenditure'
  Report commissioned by the Australian Fair Pay Commission, Research Report No. 5/09.
• Scutella, R., Wilkins, R. and Kostenko, K.
  'Estimates of Poverty and Social Exclusion in Australia: A Multidimensional Approach'
  Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Working Paper Series No. 26/09.
• Wilkins, R. and Wooden, M.
  'Household Debt in Australia: The Looming Crisis that Isn't'
  Australian Economic Review, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. pp. 358–366.

2008

• Cardak, B. and Wilkins, R.
  'The Determinants of Household Risky Asset Holdings: Background Risk and Other Factors'
  Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Working Paper Series No. 2/08.
• Headey, B.
  'Poverty is Low Consumption and Low Wealth, Not Just Low Income'
  Social Indicators Research, vol. 89, no. 1, pp. 23–39.
• Headey, B., Warren, D. and Wooden, M.
  'The Structure and Distribution of Household Wealth in Australia: Cohort Differences and Retirement Issues'
  Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Social Policy Research Paper No. 33.

2007

• Wooden, M., Wilkins, R. and McGuinness, S.
  'Minimum Wages and the Working Poor'
  Economic Papers, vol. 26, no. 4, pp. 295–307.

2006

• Headey, B.
  'A Framework for Assessing Poverty, Disadvantage and Low Capabilities in Australia'
  Melbourne Institute Report No. 6, University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, May.

2005

• Headey, B., Marks, G. and Wooden, M.
  'The Dynamics of Income Poverty in Australia'
  Australian Journal of Social Issues, vol. 40, Summer, pp. 541–552.
• Headey, B., Marks, G. and Wooden, M.
  'The Structure and Distribution of Wealth in Australia'
  Australian Economic Review, vol. 38, June, pp. 159–175.
• Headey, B., Muffels, R. and Wooden, M.
  'Money and Happiness: A Reconsideration Based on the Combined Effects of Wealth, Income and Consumption'
  Journal of Applied Social Science Studies (Schmollers Jahrbuch), vol. 125, no. 1, pp. 131–144.
• Headey, B. and Wooden, M.
  'Economic Wellbeing and Subjective Wellbeing: The Effects of Income and Wealth'
  in Lenore Manderson (ed.), Rethinking Well-being: Essays on Health, Disability and Disadvantage, Australian Public Intellectual Network, Curtin University, Perth, pp. 91109.
• Headey, B. and Wooden, M.
  'The Importance of Wealth for Subjective Well-Being'
  Journal of Financial Transformation, vol. 15, December, pp. 59–67.
• Headey, B. and Wooden, M.
  'Income, Wealth and Joblessness: Insights from the HILDA Survey'
  in Peter Dawkins and Michael Stutchbury (eds), Sustaining Prosperity, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, pp. 2558.
• Marks, G.N., Headey, B. and Wooden, M.
  'Household Wealth in Australia: Its Components, Distribution and Correlates'
  Journal of Sociology, vol. 41, March, pp. 47–68.

2004

• Headey, B., Marks, G. and Wooden, M.
  'The Structure and Distribution of Household Wealth in Australia'
  Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Working Paper Series No. 12/04.
• Headey, B., Muffels, R. and Wooden, M.
  'Money Doesn't Buy Happiness … or Does It? A Reconsideration Based on the Combined Effects of Wealth, Income and Consumption'
  Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Working Paper Series No. 15/04.
• Headey, B. and Wooden, M.
  'The Effects of Wealth and Income on Subjective Well-Being and Ill-Being'
  Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research Working Paper Series No. 3/04.
• Headey, B. and Wooden, M.
  'The Effects of Wealth and Income on Subjective Well–Being and Ill–Being'
  Economic Record , vol. 80, September, Special Issue, pp. S24–S33.