SAM Beyond Distributional National Accounts

Abstract

Once Distributional National Accounts (DINA) reconcile household survey incomes with macroeconomic aggregates, does Social Accounting Matrix (SAM) analysis still add value over DINA or microsimulation approaches that bypass the income-generation circuit? We address this question by developing a Distributional SAM (D-SAM) that embeds the DINA income concept within a macro-consistent matrix and decomposes any redistributive outcome into a mechanical and a spillover component. A distinctive feature is that retained earnings enter as a separate endogenous account—brought in from outside the standard SAM structure—so that undistributed corporate income propagates through the multiplier circuit rather than being assigned mechanically. Applying the framework to Chile (2017), we find that spillovers are moderate in aggregate but concentrated where mechanical tools are blind: Under a 5%-of-GDP universal basic income, they absorb 15%–25% of the mechanical transfer for upper-middle deciles and offset roughly 16% of the top-decile mechanical loss through capital-income channels. The added value of D-SAM is therefore selective, largest for policies mediated by capital income.