Report – INSEE expert group on inequality and redistribution

The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (INSEE) just published the report from its expert group on inequality and redistribution, which was written under the direction of Jean-Marc Germain (INSEE), in collaboration with the World Inequality Lab, with Mathias André (INSEE) and Thomas Blanchet (WIL) acting as rapporteurs. The steering committee also included Lucas Chancel (WIL).

The expert group was set up by the INSEE to investigate the source of discrepancies between several sources on inequality in the French context, and establish a blueprint for a systematic and consistent measurement of inequality accross time and place.

The report notes that, in the case of France, there is a broad agreement between sources once the concepts are made comparable. And in doing so, stresses the importance of using consistent concepts to measure inequality.

The report emphasizes the usefulness of using broad, comprehensive concepts of income and redistribution in order to establish meaningful trends and comparisons between countries.

Finally, it presents a set of recommendations for the creation of an international framework of inequality measurement, similarly to what is currently done for the measurement of GDP across countries via the UN System of National Accounts.