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Wealth and the Capitalist Spirit

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  • Johanna Francis

    (Fordham University, Department of Economics)

Abstract

The wealth distribution in the U.S. is more unequal than either the income or earnings distribution, a fact current models of saving behavior have difficulty explaining. Using MaxWeber's (1905) idea that individuals may have a 'capitalist spirit', I construct and simulate a model where individuals accumulate wealth for its own sake rather than as deferred consumption. Including capitalist-spirit preferences in a simple life cycle model, with no other modifications, generates a skewness of wealth consistent with that observed in the U.S. economy. Furthermore, capitalist-spirit preferences provide a way to generate decreasing risk aversion with increases in wealth without resorting to idiosyncratic rates of time preference.

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Paper provided by Fordham University, Department of Economics in its series Fordham Economics Discussion Paper Series with number dp2008-10.

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Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:frd:wpaper:dp2008-10
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Keywords: capitalist spirit; life cycle; wealth;

Other versions of this item:

Find related papers by JEL classification:
  • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
  • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
  • J23 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Labor Demand

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Cited by:

  1. Davoine, Thomas, 2012. "Time constraints, saving and old age," Economics Working Paper Series 1221, University of St. Gallen, School of Economics and Political Science.
  2. Lilia Karnizova, 2008. "The Spirit of Capitalism and Expectation Driven Business Cycles," Working Papers 0804E, University of Ottawa, Department of Economics.
  3. Tokuoka, Kiichi, 2012. "Is wealth accumulation a luxury good?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 115(3), pages 523-526.
  4. repec:cuf:journl:y:2013:v:14:i:1:n:3:huang is not listed on IDEAS
  5. Thomas Goda, 2014. "Global trends in relative and absolute wealth concentrations," DOCUMENTOS DE TRABAJO CIEF 010897, UNIVERSIDAD EAFIT.
  6. Jizheng Huang & Heng-fu Zou, 2013. "Asset Pricing, Capital Structure and the Spirit of Capitalism in a Production Economy," Annals of Economics and Finance, Society for AEF, vol. 14(2), pages 367-384, November.
  7. Wojciech Kopczuk, 2012. "Taxation of Intergenerational Transfers and Wealth," NBER Working Papers 18584, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
  8. Michael Kumhof & Romain Ranciere & Pablo Winant, 2013. "Inequality, Leverage and Crises: The Case of Endogenous Default," IMF Working Papers 13/249, International Monetary Fund.
  9. Jizheng Huang & Heng-fu Zou, 2011. "Asset pricing and the Modigliani-Miller theorem with the spirit of capitalism," CEMA Working Papers 456, China Economics and Management Academy, Central University of Finance and Economics.

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