Decomposing the Growth of Top Wealth Shares

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gomez, Matthieu
• 署名单位: Columbia University
• 刊物名称: ECONOMETRICA
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0012-9682
• DOI: 10.3982/ECTA16755
• 发表日期: 2023
• 页码: 979-1024
• 关键词: UNITED-STATES; idiosyncratic volatility; PRODUCTIVITY; DYNAMICS; Pareto; income; economies; mobility; MARKET; MODEL

摘要

What drives the dynamics of top wealth inequality? To answer this question, I propose an accounting framework that decomposes the growth of the share of aggregate wealth owned by a top percentile into three terms: a within term, which is the average wealth growth of individuals initially in the top percentile relative to the economy; a between term, which accounts for individuals entering and exiting the top percentile due to changes in their relative wealth rankings; and a demography term, which accounts for individuals entering or exiting the top percentile due to death and population growth. I obtain closed-form expressions for each term in a wide range of random growth models. Evidence from the Forbes 400 list suggests that the between term accounts for half of the recent rise in top wealth inequality.