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Study of households' income in Poland by using the statistical physics approach

Maciej Jagielski ,  Ryszard Kutner 

Warsaw University, Faculty of Physics, Hoża 69, Warszawa 00-681, Poland

Abstract

It was in the end of XIX century when Vilfredo Pareto as the first tried to analytically describe how the wealth and income are distributed in society. Following this pattern, early work by Pareto, Gibrat and Champernowne are presented (Laws of Pareto, Rules of Proportionate Growth, the Stochastic Model of Champernowne). Furthermore more recent and advanced models are reported: the Generalized Lotka-Volterra model and collision models. Finally, by using Polish empirical data for annual income of household s for years 2000, 2003 and 2003, the comparison with theoretical predictions was made. The surprisingly good agreements with Pareto distribution were obtained (where Pareto exponents near the cubic law were found) for middle and higher classes. For lower class very good agreement with prediction of the cumulative log-normal distribution was gained. Hence, it was possible to establish the border between lower and middle society levels.

 

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Related papers

Presentation: Oral at 4 Ogólnopolskie Sympozjum "Fizyka w Ekonomii i Naukach Społecznych", by Maciej Jagielski
See On-line Journal of 4 Ogólnopolskie Sympozjum "Fizyka w Ekonomii i Naukach Społecznych"

Submitted: 2009-03-29 23:51
Revised:   2009-06-07 00:48