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Wealth and inequality over eight centuries of British capitalism

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  • Madsen, Jakob B.

Abstract

This paper constructs annual data for the wealth-income ratio, W-Y, for the UK over the period 1210–2013. It is found that the W-Y ratio has fluctuated at one-two century frequencies about a constant level of approximately 500% over the past eight centuries. Furthermore, a U-shaped W-Y path is identified over the past two centuries and it is argued that the descending part of the U-shape is driven by the transition from pre-industrial modes of production to industrialization and that the post-1980 upturn in the W-Y ratio represents the transition from the industrial to the post-industrialization era.

Suggested Citation

  • Madsen, Jakob B., 2019. "Wealth and inequality over eight centuries of British capitalism," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 246-260.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:deveco:v:138:y:2019:i:c:p:246-260
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jdeveco.2019.01.005
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    Cited by:

    1. Rishabh Kumar, 2019. "The evolution of wealth-income ratios in India, 1860-2012," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876998, HAL.
    2. Daniel Waldenström, 2021. "Wealth and History: An Update," CESifo Working Paper Series 9366, CESifo.
    3. Giovanni Federico & Alessandro Nuvolari & Michelangelo Vasta, 2023. "Inequality in Pre‐Industrial Europe (1260–1850): New Evidence From the Labor Share," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(2), pages 347-375, June.
    4. Filippo Gusella & Anna Maria Variato, 2021. "Financial Instability and Income Inequality: why the connection Minsky-Piketty matters for Macroeconomics," Working Papers - Economics wp2021_15.rdf, Universita' degli Studi di Firenze, Dipartimento di Scienze per l'Economia e l'Impresa.
    5. Waldenström, Daniel, 2021. "Wealth and History: An Update," Working Paper Series 1411, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    6. Enea Baselgia & Isabel Z. Martínez, 2022. "Wealth-Income Ratios in Free Market Capitalism: Switzerland, 1900-2020," CESifo Working Paper Series 9976, CESifo.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wealth-income ratio; Industrialization; Pre-industrialization; Post-industrialization; Inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E1 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models
    • E2 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment
    • O4 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity
    • P1 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies

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