Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/63478
Year of Publication: 
2006
Series/Report no.: 
WIDER Research Paper No. 2006/151
Publisher: 
The United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), Helsinki
Abstract: 
The aim of this paper is to examine the concentration of wealth among the group of top wealth holders, defined as those with wealth in excess of a high cut off. The paper begins by considering the definition of this cut off, analogous to the definition of a poverty line at the other end of the distribution. It then considers what can be learned about the proportion classified as ‘rich’ and about the concentration among the rich from four non-survey sources: journalists’ lists, estate data, wealth tax data, and investment income tax data. It starts off from the world’s billionaires in 2006, but is particularly concerned with changes over time within countries, taking France, Germany, the UK, and the USA, to illustrate the different sources.
Subjects: 
wealth
inequality
assets
rich
JEL: 
D31
E01
E21
ISBN: 
9291909351=978-92-9190-935-3
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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