Testing Marx. Capital Accumulation, Income Inequality, and Socialism in Late Nineteenth-Century Germany

Charlotte Bartels, Felix Kersting and Nikolaus Wolf

No 17925, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: We study the dynamics of capital accumulation, income inequality, capital concentration, and voting up to 1914. Based on new panel data for Prussian regions, we re-evaluate the famous Revisionism Debate between orthodox Marxists and their critics. We show that changes in capital accumulation led to a rise in the capital share and income inequality, as predicted by orthodox Marxists. But against their predictions, this did neither lead to further capital concentration nor to more votes for the socialists. Instead, trade unions and strike activity limited income inequality and fostered political support for socialism, as argued by the Revisionists.

Keywords: Concentration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 J31 N33 P16 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-02
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