What Do We Know About Evolution of Top Wealth Shares in the United States?

Wojciech Kopczuk

No 10368, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: I discuss available evidence about the evolution of top wealth shares in the United States over the last one hundred years. The three main approaches ? Survey of Consumer Finances, estate tax multiplier techniques and capitalization method ? generate generally consistent findings until mid-1980s but diverge since then, with capitalization method showing a dramatic increase in wealth concentration and the other two methods showing at best a small increase. I discuss strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The increase in capitalization estimates since 2000 is driven by a dramatic and surprising increase in fixed income assets. There is evidence that estate tax estimates may not be sufficiently accounting for mortality improvements over time. The non-response and coverage issues in the SCF are a concern. I conclude that changing nature of top incomes and the increased importance of self-made wealth may explain difficulties in implementing each of the methods and account for why the results diverge.

Keywords: Wealth; inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-01
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-pbe
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (132)

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Related works:
Journal Article: What Do We Know about the Evolution of Top Wealth Shares in the United States? (2015)
Working Paper: What Do We Know About Evolution of Top Wealth Shares in the United States? (2014)
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