Looking for the Missing Rich: Tracing the Top Tail of the Wealth Distribution

Stefan Bach (), Andreas Thiemann () and Aline Zucco

No 1717, Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin from DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research

Abstract: We analyze the top tail of the wealth distribution in Germany, France, and Spain based on the first and second wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). Since top wealth is likely to be underrepresented in household surveys, we integrate big fortunes from rich lists, estimate a Pareto distribution, and impute the missing rich. In addition to the Forbes list, we rely on national rich lists since they represent a broader base for the big fortunes in those countries. As a result, the top percentile share of household wealth in Germany jumps up from 24 percent to 31 percent in the first and from 24 to 33 percent in the second wave after top wealth imputation. For France and Spain, we find only a small effect of the imputation since rich households are better captured in the survey.

Keywords: Wealth distribution; missing rich; Pareto distribution; HFCS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C46 C81 D31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 50 p.
Date: 2018
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Looking for the missing rich: tracing the top tail of the wealth distribution (2019)
Journal Article: Looking for the missing rich: tracing the top tail of the wealth distribution (2019)
Working Paper: Looking for the missing rich: Tracing the top tail of the wealth distribution (2018)
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