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Top Income Shares in the Long Run: An Overview

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Author Info
Thomas Piketty (ENS-EHESS, Paris-Jourdan, ,)

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Abstract

This paper offers an overview of what we have learned from a collective research project on income distribution in the long run. Using historical income tax statistics and a common methodology, we have constructed annual top income shares series (often broken down by income source) for over 20 countries covering most of the 20th century. One important conclusion is that the decline in income inequality that took place during the first half of the 20th century was mostly accidental, and does not seem to have much to do with a Kuznets-type process. Top capital incomes were hit by major shocks during the 1914-1945 period, and were never able to fully recover from these shocks, probably because of the dynamic impact of progressive income and estate taxation. Our database also allows us to readdress the cross-country analysis of the interplay between inequality and growth with better prospects than with standard databases. (JEL: D31) Copyright (c) 2005 The European Economic Association.

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File URL: http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1162/jeea.2005.3.2-3.382
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Publisher Info
Article provided by MIT Press in its journal Journal of the European Economic Association.

Volume (Year): 3 (2005)
Issue (Month): 2-3 (04/05)
Pages: 382-392
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Handle: RePEc:tpr:jeurec:v:3:y:2005:i:2-3:p:382-392

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  1. Anthony B. Atkinson & Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez, 2009. "Top Incomes in the Long Run of History," NBER Working Papers 15408, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Roine, Jesper & Waldenström, Daniel, 2009. "Common Trends and Shocks to Top Incomes – A Structural Breaks Approach," Working Paper Series 801, Research Institute of Industrial Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Peichl, Andreas & Schaefer, Thilo & Scheicher, Christoph, 2008. "Measuring Richness and Poverty: A Micro Data Application to Europe and Germany," IZA Discussion Papers 3790, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  4. Roine, Jesper & Vlachos, Jonas & Waldenström, Daniel, 2007. "What Determines Top Income Shares? Evidence from the Twentieth Century," Research Papers in Economics 2007:17, Stockholm University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Bjorn Gustafsson & Birgitta Jansson, 2007. "Top Incomes in Sweden during Three-Quarters of a Century: A Micro Data Approach," IZA Discussion Papers 2672, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
  6. Milanovic, Branko & Lindert, Peter & Williamson, Jeffrey, 2007. "Measuring Ancient Inequality," MPRA Paper 5388, University Library of Munich, Germany. [Downloadable!]
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