A COMPARISON OF ALTERNATIVE MEASURES OF ECONOMIC WELL-BEING FOR GERMANY AND THE UNITED-STATES

This paper, using six waves of data (1984-89) from the United States P anel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) and the German Socio-Economic Pan el (GSOEP), compares economic well-being using single year income, mul ti-year income, and wealth as measures. We find inequality to be great er in the United States than in Germany regardless of the measure used . However, the relative degree of inequality varies across measures. W hen we disaggregate our data by age and gender categories, in general we find greater inequality in the United States, but wealth inequality among older Germans is greater than it is among older Americans.