IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/ausecr/v17y1984i4p23-33.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Much Do We Know About Wealth Distribution in Australia?

Author

Listed:
  • J. W. Nevile
  • N. A. Warren

Abstract

This paper surveys what is known about wealth distribution in Australia and concludes that our knowledge is scanty. The most reliable evidence comes from studies using probate returns and with the abolition of estate duties, these studies are becoming out of date. However, it is clear that wealth is very unequally distributed. The top 5 per cent of adult individuals own between 40 and 50 per cent of the wealth. This inequality is not just due to life cycle effects, and there is no strong evidence that wealth distribution has become more equal in Australia in the period since the First World War.

Suggested Citation

  • J. W. Nevile & N. A. Warren, 1984. "How Much Do We Know About Wealth Distribution in Australia?," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 17(4), pages 23-33, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:17:y:1984:i:4:p:23-33
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-8462.1984.tb00472.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8462.1984.tb00472.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1467-8462.1984.tb00472.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yates, Judith, 1981. "An Analysis of Asset Holdings in Australia by Income Class," Working Papers 53, University of Sydney, School of Economics.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. John McCallum & John Beggs, 1991. "Determinants of Household Weatlh: Assets of Divorcing Couples in Australia," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 24(4), pages 57-66, October.
    2. Gavin A. Wood, 1999. "Home-owner Residential Property Taxes and their Burden on Net Personal Wealth: An Empirical Study for Australia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 36(2), pages 239-254, February.
    3. John Piggott, 1984. "The Distribution of Wealth in Australia — A Survey," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 60(3), pages 252-265, September.
    4. Bruce Headey & Mark Wooden & Gary Marks, 2004. "The Structure and Distribution of Household Wealth in Australia," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2004n12, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.
    5. Daina McDonald, 2006. "150 Issues of The Australian Economic Review: The Changing Face of a Journal over Time," Melbourne Institute Working Paper Series wp2006n01, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Izan, H. Y. & Clements, Kenneth W., 1985. "A cross-sectional analysis of asset holdings," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 13(6), pages 473-481, December.
    2. John Freebairn, 1991. "Some Effects of a Consumption Tax on the Level and composition of Australian Saving and Investment," Australian Economic Review, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, vol. 24(4), pages 13-29, October.
    3. Adrian Pagan, 1983. "Who'S Afraid Of Inflation?," Economic Papers, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 2(4), pages 79-93, December.
    4. John Piggott, 1984. "The Distribution of Wealth in Australia — A Survey," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 60(3), pages 252-265, September.
    5. W. J. Merrilees, 1983. "Pension Benefits and the Decline in Elderly Male Labour Force Participation," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 59(3), pages 260-270, September.
    6. Bruce Bradbury & Chris Rossiter & Joan Vipond, 1987. "Housing and Poverty in Australia," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 24(2), pages 95-102, April.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:ausecr:v:17:y:1984:i:4:p:23-33. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/mimelau.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.