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Maximum Entropy Power Laws: An Application to the Tail of Wealth Distributions

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  • Mishael Milakovic'

Abstract

tatistical equilibrium denotes the distribution of wealth that can be achieved in the largest number of ways while satisfying a first moment constraint on the rate of growth in wealth portfolios. Maximizing entropy subject to a logarithmic constraint yields a power law distribution whose characteristic exponent depends positively on the minimum wealth level, and inversely on the rate of growth and the average number of changes in the composition of wealth portfolios. Put differently, the distribution of wealth will be more unequal the faster the rate of growth in wealth and also the higher the number of turnovers.

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  • Mishael Milakovic', 2003. "Maximum Entropy Power Laws: An Application to the Tail of Wealth Distributions," LEM Papers Series 2003/01, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    • Handle: RePEc:ssa:lemwps:2003/01
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. Reed, William J., 2001. "The Pareto, Zipf and other power laws," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 15-19, December.
    9. Xavier Gabaix, 1999. "Zipf's Law for Cities: An Explanation," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(3), pages 739-767.
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    As found on the RePEc Biblio, the curated bibliography for Economics:
    1. > Schools of Economic Thought, Epistemology of Economics > Heterodox Approaches > Thermoeconomics > The economy system and entropy minimization

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    Cited by:

    1. Ellis Scharfenaker & Gregor Semieniuk, 2017. "A Statistical Equilibrium Approach to the Distribution of Profit Rates," Metroeconomica, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 68(3), pages 465-499, July.

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