Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/63536 
Year of Publication: 
2006
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Research Paper No. 2006/120
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
This study discusses the evolution of personal wealth in transition economies. While data availability is still a problem, the available indirect evidence suggests privatization has resulted in an increase in personal wealth but also in personal wealth inequality, especially in the countries that lagged behind in building effective institutions. Another source of wealth inequality is the high income inequality due to wage decompression coupled with the low saving rates among the poor. We pay a special attention to one of the most noticeable implications of this rise in personal wealth and wealth inequality— the emergence of so called ‘oligarchs’. Using the comprehensive dataset of Muscovites’ incomes we show that surveys that do not take into account the first- and second-tier rich (billionaires and millionaires) may drastically underestimate inequality. – inequality ; wealth distribution ; oligarchs ; privatization
JEL: 
D31
O52
P36
ISBN: 
9291909041
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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