A Head-to-Head Comparison of Augmented Wealth in Germany and the United States

Timm Bönke, Markus Grabka, Carsten Schröder and Edward N. Wolff

No 23244, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We provide levels of, compositions of, and inequalities in household augmented wealth – defined as the sum of net worth and pension wealth – for two countries: the United States and Germany. Pension wealth makes up a considerable portion of household wealth: about 48% in the United States and 61% in Germany. The higher share in Germany narrows the wealth gap between the two countries: While average net worth in the United States (US$337,000 in 2013) is about 1.8 times higher than in Germany, augmented wealth (US$651,000) is only 1.4 times higher. Further, the inclusion of pension wealth in household wealth reduces the Gini coefficient from 0.892 to 0.701 in the United States and from 0.765 to 0.511 in Germany.

JEL-codes: D31 H55 J32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age
Note: AG LS PE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (13)

Published as Timm Bönke & Markus M. Grabka & Carsten Schröder & Edward N. Wolff, 2020. "A Head‐to‐Head Comparison of Augmented Wealth in Germany and the United States*," The Scandinavian Journal of Economics, vol 122(3), pages 1140-1180.

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Related works:
Journal Article: A Head‐to‐Head Comparison of Augmented Wealth in Germany and the United States (2020)
Journal Article: A Head-to-Head Comparison of Augmented Wealth in Germany and the United States (2020)
Working Paper: A Head-to-Head Comparison of Augmented Wealth in Germany and the United States (2018)
Working Paper: A Head-to-Head Comparison of Augmented Wealth in Germany and the United States (2017)
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