Factors behind rising U.S. wealth inequality: a decomposition and policy implications

Joanna Tyrowicz, Marcin Lewandowski, Jan Svejnar and Krzysztof Makarski
Additional contact information
Marcin Lewandowski: Group for Research in Applied Economics (GRAPE)

No 100, GRAPE Working Papers from GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics

Abstract: We offer a novel decomposition of wealth inequality and quantify principal factors determining changes in US wealth inequality. We show that the rise in inequality reflects mainly demographic factors related to rising life expectancy and associated increases in savings -- it is not per se evidence of growing inequity and a †threat to society†. Importantly, the rise in inequality has been largely driven by differences between rather than within birth cohorts, a phenomenon that has gone largely unnoticed in the literature. Moreover, while changes in saving behavior mitigate the rise in wealth inequality, demographic factors increasingly amplify it. We discuss implications for policy and for structural modeling.

Keywords: wealth inequality; U.S.; saving behavior; rising longevity; demographic factors (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J23 M12 M13 M14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 27 pages
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://grape.org.pl/WP/100_Lewandowski_website.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fme:wpaper:100

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in GRAPE Working Papers from GRAPE Group for Research in Applied Economics Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Jan Hagemejer ().