A new model for the income distribution
Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, cilt.701, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 701
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.1016/j.physa.2026.132084
- Dergi Adı: Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Scopus, Artic & Antarctic Regions, Compendex, INSPEC, MathSciNet, Public Affairs Index, zbMATH, Academic Search Ultimate (EBSCO), Engineering Source (EBSCO)
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Income distribution, Money distribution, Pareto law
- İstanbul Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
In this study, we propose a kinetic trap–diffusion model to describe the emergence of Pareto distributions in money-exchange systems. Using kinetic Monte Carlo simulations, we show that the Pareto exponent depends explicitly on temperature and takes values in the range 0.5≤ν(T)≤1.5. In the present framework, the temperature T acts as a control parameter that regulates the exchange dynamics through thermally activated diffusion. Unlike conventional kinetic exchange models, where the Pareto exponent is fixed by microscopic rules, the proposed model generates a range of Pareto exponents as a function of T. The temperature-dependent Pareto exponent constitutes the central novelty of the proposed kinetic trap–diffusion framework. This feature provides a natural explanation for the empirically observed variations in Pareto exponents across different countries and economic conditions. In addition, the fraction of zero-wealth agents and the Gini index exhibit a non-monotonic dependence on temperature, revealing distinct dynamical regimes arising from the competition between trapping and money mobility. The persistence of the Pareto-like stationary distribution under strongly nonuniform initial conditions further supports the robustness of the proposed mechanism. These results show that different Pareto-tail and inequality regimes can emerge from the same trap–diffusion dynamics through changes in a single control parameter.