Evidence from the Dead: New Estimates of Wealth Inequality Using the Distribution of Estates

Facundo Alvaredo (alvaredo@gmail.com), Yonatan Berman (yonatan.berman@kcl.ac.uk) and Salvatore Morelli (salvatore.morelli@uniroma3.it)
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Facundo Alvaredo: Paris School of Economics
Yonatan Berman: King's College London
Salvatore Morelli: Roma Tre University

No 17389, IZA Discussion Papers from Institute of Labor Economics (IZA)

Abstract: This paper examines the estimation of the distribution of wealth using estates left at death. We establish formal conditions for implementing a simplified version of the classic estate multiplier method, relying solely on minimal information about estates and mortality. These conditions are empirically validated, and the simplified approach is applied to produce new long-run top wealth share series for Belgium, Japan, and South Africa, where estate data have previously been underutilized. This method holds potential for expanding the range of countries and years in which wealth concentration can be estimated, especially where estate data exist but the standard method with heterogeneous multipliers is inapplicable.

Keywords: mortality rates; estate tax; wealth inequality; public economics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D3 H2 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 42 pages
Date: 2024-10
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age and nep-his
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