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Wealth Inequality in Interwar Poland

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  • Marcin Wroński

    (SGH Warsaw School of Economics)

Abstract

In 1923 Poland introduced an extraordinary wealth tax. We use the internal statistics of the Ministry of the Treasury to estimate wealth inequality in interwar Poland. This data source has not been previously used by researchers. There are no estimates of wealth inequality in interwar Poland available in the literature. According to our estimates, the top 0.01% of the wealth distribution controlled 16.4% of total private wealth. The wealth share of the top 1% stood at 42.5%. The top decile owned 67.3% of total private wealth. Wealth inequality varied strongly across regions. A comparison of wealth inequality in Poland with wealth inequality in other European countries in the interwar period yields a diverse picture. The wealth share of the top 0.01% was the highest in Europe, the wealth share of the top 1% was in the middle of the European ranking, the wealth share of the top 10% was almost the lowest in Europe. The small elite of super-rich (0.01%) was very wealthy in comparison to the European peers, but the wealth share of the rest of the top decile was relatively low. The unequal development of former partitions may partially explain high very top wealth shares.

Suggested Citation

  • Marcin Wroński, 2022. "Wealth Inequality in Interwar Poland," World Inequality Lab Working Papers halshs-03693208, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wilwps:halshs-03693208
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-03693208
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    Cited by:

    1. Rafał Matera & Janusz Skodlarski, 2024. "The contribution of the history of economic thought and economic history to the development of economics in the Third Polish Republic. A concise overview of academic centres, research output, and inte," Ekonomista, Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne, issue 2, pages 155-177.

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    Keywords

    wealth distribution; inequality; Poland; interwar;
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