Global Inequality Dynamics: New Findings from WID.world
Facundo Alvaredo, Lucas Chancel, Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman
American Economic Review · 2017 · Volume 107 · Issue 5
Abstract
This paper presents new findings on global inequality dynamics from the World Wealth and Income Database (WID.world), with particular emphasis on the contrast between the trends observed in the United States, China, France, and the United Kingdom. We observe rising top income and wealth shares in nearly all countries in recent decades. But the magnitude of the increase varies substantially, thereby suggesting that different country-specific policies and institutions matter considerably. Long-run wealth inequality dynamics appear to be highly unstable. We stress the need for more democratic transparency on income and wealth dynamics and better access to administrative and financial data.
Keywords
Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions, Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement, Political Processes: Rent-Seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior, Economic Development: Human Resources, Human Development, Income Distribution, Migration, Formal and Informal Sectors, Shadow Economy, Institutional Arrangements, Institutions and Growth, Socialist Institutions and Their Transitions: Consumer Economics, Health, Education and Training: Welfare, Income, and Poverty
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