The Distribution of Wealth in Australia — A Survey*

John Piggott

The Economic Record, 1984, vol. 60, issue 3, 252-265

Abstract: This paper surveys and analyzes the available evidence on the distribution of wealth in Australia. On the basis of this evidence, it is argued that the cross‐section distribution of personal wealth reveals considerable concentration in the top tail, with the top 1 per cent of adult individuals holding around 25 per cent of private wealth. The inequality of wealth revealed in the cross‐section distribution among the top 10 per cent of wealth holders is not significantly reduced when adjustments are made to correct for life‐cycle influences. Although the proportion of wealth held by the top 1 per cent of adult individuals has decreased sharply since World War I, the second to tenth percentiles have almost the same proportion in the 1960s and 1970s as in 1915.

Date: 1984
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https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4932.1984.tb00860.x

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