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Income and Wealth Inequality in France: Developments and Links over the Long Term

Author

Listed:
  • Bertrand Garbinti

    (Centre de recherche de la Banque de France - Banque de France)

  • Jonathan Goupille-Lebret

    (GATE Lyon Saint-Étienne - Groupe d'Analyse et de Théorie Economique Lyon - Saint-Etienne - UL2 - Université Lumière - Lyon 2 - UJM - Université Jean Monnet - Saint-Étienne - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

[eng] This article sheds light on the long term development of income and wealth inequality and the link between them in France. Following a sharp decline in inequality that began at the beginning of the First World War, a trend towards inequality has emerged (and continues) since the mid 1980s. The historical perspective makes it possible to illustrate how small changes in inequality in savings, returns or earnings can have strong long term effects on wealth concen-tration. Two other major trends have been observed since the 1970s. One is the narrowing of the gap in labour income between men and women – although it remains high. The other is the increased difficulty, for those who only have access to labour income, to access the high¬est wealth brackets. Finally, our comparisons between France and the United States show that wealth and income inequalities were comparable or even lower in the United States before the 1970s. That country has since become much more unequal.
(This abstract was borrowed from another version of this item.)

Suggested Citation

  • Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret, 2020. "Income and Wealth Inequality in France: Developments and Links over the Long Term," Post-Print halshs-02419071, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:halshs-02419071
    DOI: 10.24187/ecostat.2019.510t.1988
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://shs.hal.science/halshs-02419071
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    1. Bertrand Garbinti & Pierre Lamarche, 2014. "Les hauts revenus épargnent‑ils davantage ?," Économie et Statistique, Programme National Persée, vol. 472(1), pages 49-64.
    2. Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Thomas Piketty, 2021. "Accounting for Wealth-Inequality Dynamics: Methods, Estimates, and Simulations for France," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 620-663.
    3. Thomas Piketty, 2011. "On the Long-Run Evolution of Inheritance: France 1820--2050," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 126(3), pages 1071-1131.
    4. Garbinti, Bertrand & Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Piketty, Thomas, 2018. "Income inequality in France, 1900–2014: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts (DINA)," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 63-77.
    5. Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Thomas Piketty, 2016. "Accounting for Wealth Inequality Dynamics: Methods, Estimates and Simulations for France (1800-2014)," Working Papers halshs-02794339, HAL.
    6. Thomas Piketty & Gabriel Zucman, 2014. "Capital is Back: Wealth-Income Ratios in Rich Countries 1700–2010," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, Oxford University Press, vol. 129(3), pages 1255-1310.
    7. Dominique Meurs & Pierre Pora, 2019. "Égalité professionnelle entre les femmes et les hommes en France : une lente convergence freinée par les maternités," Post-Print hal-02386952, HAL.
    8. Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Thomas Piketty, 2017. "Income Inequality in France, 1900-2014: Evidence from Distributional National Accounts," Working Papers halshs-02658875, HAL.
    9. Laurent Gobillon & Dominique Meurs & Sébastien Roux, 2015. "Estimating Gender Differences in Access to Jobs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(2), pages 317-363.
    10. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2014. "Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 230-271, February.
    11. Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Infante, Jose, 2018. "Behavioral responses to inheritance tax: Evidence from notches in France," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 21-34.
    12. Thomas Piketty & Gilles Postel-Vinay & Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 2006. "Wealth Concentration in a Developing Economy: Paris and France, 1807–1994," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(1), pages 236-256, March.
    13. Bertrand Garbinti & Jonathan Goupille-Lebret & Thomas Piketty, 0. "Accounting for Wealth-Inequality Dynamics: Methods, Estimates, and Simulations for France," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 19(1), pages 620-663.
    14. Frémeaux, Nicolas & Leturcq, Marion, 2020. "Inequalities and the individualization of wealth," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
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    Cited by:

    1. Piketty, Thomas & Bozio, Antoine & Garbinti, Bertrand & Goupille-Lebret, Jonathan & Guillot, Malka, 2020. "Predistribution vs. Redistribution: Evidence from France and the U.S," CEPR Discussion Papers 15415, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Florian Bonnet & Hippolyte d'Albis & Aurélie Sotura, 2020. "Les inégalités de revenu entre les départements français depuis cent ans," Working Papers halshs-02536856, HAL.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E21 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Consumption; Saving; Wealth
    • N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy

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