The Rise and Fall of Top Incomes in Iran ۱۹۸۵-۲۰۱۵

T his paper studies top income shares in Iran, using ۲۶ Household Expenditure and Income Surveys conducted by the Statistical Center of Iran over the period ۱۹۸۵-۲۰۱۵. It is shown that after the imposed Iran-Iraq war, top income groups were raising their real income and income share by ۲۰۰۶; however, both their share and real income fell immediately after ۲۰۰۶ such that the numbers are now below their wartime level. It is explained that the fall is caused by the negative effects of the United Nations Security Council sanctions on the top capital income earners. The paper also measures the concentration of income by the inverted Pareto coefficient and finds that the concentration had been generally increasing by ۲۰۰۰; however, the upward trend reverses from ۲۰۰۰ onwards. Although the concentration of income and the top income groups’ share have fallen significantly in Iran in recent years, the numbers are still large, and Iran is among the most inegalitarian countries.

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Keywords: Top Income Shares , Income Inequality , Concentration of Income , sanctions , Iran. JEL Classification: D۳۱ , D۶۳ , O۵۳