Post-fiscal inequality in India: Constructing a lived income Gini, 2014 -2025
April 10, 2026
Abstract
This paper develops a fiscal-incidence-based measure of post-intervention household inequality in India by integrating survey evidence, tax-return statistics, and the monetised value of welfare transfers. It constructs a hybrid income distribution using a log-normal specification for the bottom 90 percent and a Pareto tail for the top decile, and then estimates the equalising effect of taxes, subsidies, and public provisioning on household command over resources.
Keywords: inequality, fiscal incidence, India, Gini coefficient, welfare transfers
Suggested Citation:
Shekhar, V. and Mukhopadhyay, S. (2026). Post-fiscal inequality in India: Constructing a lived income Gini, 2014–2025. SPJIMR Paper Series, WP-2026-05. https://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6554558
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