Measuring the Middle Class in Kazakhstan : A Subjective Approach

Pittau, M. Grazia ; Zelli, Roberto

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: MIDDLE CLASS;    INCOME DISTRIBUTION;    SOCIAL CLASS;    INEQUALITY;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-8568
RP-ID  :  WPS8568

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

This paper proposes a model-basedapproach to estimate income boundaries for identifying themiddle class in Kazakhstan over 2003-15. The approachexploits the subjective evaluation of Kazakhstan householdsabout their social status, relating self-declared socialclass membership to income. Income data come from theKazakhstan Household Budget Survey, which also includes aspecific module on quality of life and perceived socialstatus. As social status is intrinsically an ordinalresponse, the paper estimates a proportional odds model withincome as the key explanatory variable. Although otherfactors influence the self-perception of being in the middleclass, income is by far the most important determinant.Benchmarking on 2013, the estimated middle class lower boundis $14 at 2011 purchasing power parity and the upper boundis $52. The Kazakhstan middle class has increased massivelyin size and income concentration. The increase isessentially due to a growth effect rather than aredistributive cause.