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Power laws in socio-economics

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  • Schulz, Jan
  • Weber, Jan David

Abstract

Power laws are pervasive in economics and social sciences, particularly in the upper tails of distributions such as wealth, income, firm size, and city populations. Their scale-free property makes them a universal framework to understand phenomena spanning several orders of magnitude. This chapter explores their mathematical and often counterintuitive statistical properties, empirical evidence, and the stochastic processes that generate them. Emphasis is placed on their universal applicability, particularly to firm size, wealth, and income distributions and their potential to address the pressing issues of our time.

Suggested Citation

  • Schulz, Jan & Weber, Jan David, 2025. "Power laws in socio-economics," BERG Working Paper Series 203, Bamberg University, Bamberg Economic Research Group.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:bamber:314423
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Keywords

    Distribution; Growth Processes; Extreme Values; Concentration; Inequality;
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