Wealth Concentration in a Developing Economy: Paris and France, 1807-1994

Thomas Piketty, Gilles Postel-Vinay, Jean-Laurent Rosenthal

American Economic Review · 2006 · Volume 96 · Issue 1

Abstract

Using large samples of estate tax returns, we construct new series on wealth concentration in Paris and France from 1807 to 1994. Inequality increased until 1914 because industrial and financial estates grew dramatically. Then, adverse shocks, rather than a Kuznets-type process, led to a massive decline in inequality. The very high wealth concentration prior to 1914 benefited retired individuals living off capital income (rentiers) rather than entrepreneurs. The very rich were in their seventies and eighties, whereas they had been in their fifties a half century earlier and would be so again after World War II. Our results shed new light on ongoing debates about wealth inequality and growth.

Keywords

Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions, Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Religion, and Philanthropy: Europe: Pre-1913, and Philanthropy: Europe: 1913-

Enable JavaScript for citation tools and additional paper interactions.