Wealth and inequality over eight centuries of British capitalism

Jakob Madsen

Journal of Development Economics, 2019, vol. 138, issue C, 246-260

Abstract: This paper constructs annual data for the wealth-income ratio, W-Y, for the UK over the period 1210–2013. It is found that the W-Y ratio has fluctuated at one-two century frequencies about a constant level of approximately 500% over the past eight centuries. Furthermore, a U-shaped W-Y path is identified over the past two centuries and it is argued that the descending part of the U-shape is driven by the transition from pre-industrial modes of production to industrialization and that the post-1980 upturn in the W-Y ratio represents the transition from the industrial to the post-industrialization era.

Keywords: Wealth-income ratio; Industrialization; Pre-industrialization; Post-industrialization; Inequality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: E1 E2 O4 P1 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:deveco:v:138:y:2019:i:c:p:246-260

DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.01.005

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