ABSTRACT

Even though Lithuania’s household income inequality is among the highest in the European Union (EU), little empirical work has been carried out to explain such disparities. We investigate it using the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions sample microdata. We confirm that income inequality in Lithuania is high compared to the EU average. Our decompositions reveal that the number of employed household members in Lithuania’s households affects income inequality more as compared to the EU. It is related to a larger labour income, and self-employment income, in particular, contribution to inequality in Lithuania. Moreover, taxes, social contributions, and transfers reduce income inequality in Lithuania less than in the EU. Specifically, income taxes and social contributions are less progressive while transfers constitute a smaller share of income in Lithuania than in the EU. Income taxes and social contributions are effectively regressive for the self-employed in Lithuania.

摘要

尽管立陶宛的家庭收入不平等在欧洲联盟（EU）中名列前茅，但几乎没有进行任何实证研究来解释这种差距。我们使用欧盟收入和生活条件统计样本微数据对其进行调查。我们确认，立陶宛的收入不平等程度高于欧盟平均水平。我们的分解表明，与欧盟相比，立陶宛家庭中受雇的家庭成员数量对收入不平等的影响更大。这与增加劳动收入和自雇收入有关，特别是对立陶宛不平等的贡献。此外，立陶宛的税收，社会贡献和转移支付减少收入不平等的程度低于欧盟。特别，所得税和社会捐款的累进性较差，而转移支付在立陶宛的收入份额要比欧盟小。所得税和社会贡献对于立陶宛的自雇人士实际上是递减的。