Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015

Pawel Bukowski and Filip Novokmet

LSE Research Online Documents on Economics from London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library

Abstract: We construct the first consistent series on the long-term distribution of income in Poland by combining tax, household survey and national accounts data. We document a U-shaped evolution of inequalities from the end of the nineteenth century until today: (1) inequality was high before WWII; (2) abruptly fell after the introduction of communism in 1947 and stagnated at low levels during the whole communist period; (3) experienced a sharp rise with the return to capitalism in 1989. We find that official survey-based measures strongly under-estimate the rise in inequality since 1989. Our results highlight the prominent role of capital income in driving the U-shaped evolution of top income shares. The unique inequality history of Poland speaks to the central role of institutions and policies in shaping inequality in the long run.

Keywords: income inequality; transformation; Poland; 724363; 340831 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 E01 N34 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 53 pages
Date: 2021-06-02
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-cwa, nep-his, nep-mac and nep-tra
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (16)

Published in Journal of Economic Growth, 2, June, 2021, 26(2), pp. 187 – 239. ISSN: 1381-4338

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehl:lserod:110221

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