TY - JOUR
T1 - Skewed wealth distributions
T2 - Theory and empirics
AU - Benhabib, Jess
AU - Bisin, Alberto
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 American Economic Association. All rights reserved.
PY - 2018/12
Y1 - 2018/12
N2 - Invariably, across a cross-section of countries and time periods, wealth distributions are skewed to the right displaying thick upper tails, that is, large and slowly declining top wealth shares. In this survey, we categorize the theoretical studies on the distribution of wealth in terms of the underlying economic mechanisms generating skewness and thick tails. Further, we show how these mechanisms can be micro-founded by the consumption-savings decisions of rational agents in specific economic and demographic environments. Finally we map the large empirical work on the wealth distribution to its theoretical underpinnings.
AB - Invariably, across a cross-section of countries and time periods, wealth distributions are skewed to the right displaying thick upper tails, that is, large and slowly declining top wealth shares. In this survey, we categorize the theoretical studies on the distribution of wealth in terms of the underlying economic mechanisms generating skewness and thick tails. Further, we show how these mechanisms can be micro-founded by the consumption-savings decisions of rational agents in specific economic and demographic environments. Finally we map the large empirical work on the wealth distribution to its theoretical underpinnings.
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U2 - 10.1257/jel.20161390
DO - 10.1257/jel.20161390
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85059597227
VL - 56
SP - 1261
EP - 1291
JO - Journal of Economic Literature
JF - Journal of Economic Literature
SN - 0022-0515
ER -