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Fair Crack of the Whip? The Distribution of Augmented Wealth in Australia from 2002 to 2018

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  • Maximilian Longmuir

    (Department of Economics, Freie Universität Berlin)

Abstract

The omission of pension wealth potentially distorts the international comparison of wealth distributions. Private pension wealth is often included in households’ wealth portfolios, while public pension claims are not. Augmented wealth, the sum of net worth and pension wealth, resolves this limitation by including the present value of social security pension wealth. This paper provides a detailed analysis of augmented wealth in Australia between 2002 and 2018, capturing the establishment of the compulsory private pension scheme, Superannuation, which was introduced in 1992. Moreover, I depict the interaction of Superannuation with the public scheme Age Pension and how that affects the overall wealth distribution. Augmented wealth in Australia is found to be less equally distributed than wealth in Germany or Switzerland, but more equally than in the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Maximilian Longmuir, 2021. "Fair Crack of the Whip? The Distribution of Augmented Wealth in Australia from 2002 to 2018," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2021n04, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    • Handle: RePEc:iae:iaewps:wp2021n04
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    File URL: https://melbourneinstitute.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/3603691/wp2021n04.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Paolo Acciari & Facundo Alvaredo & Salvatore Morelli, 2021. "The concentration of personal wealth in Italy 1995-2016," PSE Working Papers halshs-03226113, HAL.
    2. Sierminska, Eva & Wroński, Marcin, 2022. "Inequality and Public Pension Entitlements," GLO Discussion Paper Series 1212, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    3. Wroński, Marcin, 2023. "The impact of social security wealth on the distribution of wealth in the European Union," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 24(C).
    4. Markus Knell & Reinhard Koman, 2022. "Pension Entitlements and Net Wealth in Austria (Markus Knell, Reinhard Koman)," Working Papers 238, Oesterreichische Nationalbank (Austrian Central Bank).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Augmented wealth; net worth; pension wealth; Household; Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • H55 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Social Security and Public Pensions
    • J32 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Nonwage Labor Costs and Benefits; Retirement Plans; Private Pensions

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