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Property and power: lessons from Piketty and new insights from the HFCS

Author

Listed:
  • Miriam Rehm

    (Federal Chamber of Labour Vienna and University of Vienna, Austria)

  • Matthias Schnetzer

    (Federal Chamber of Labour Vienna and Vienna University of Economics, Austria)

Abstract

This paper argues that the cumulative causation processes between wealth and power risk leading to an escalation of wealth inequality. Piketty's historical description of this development from administrative data for individual countries is corroborated with new survey data for the eurozone, the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). Wealth is extremely unequally distributed in the eurozone – much more so than income. Furthermore, we provide a multi-faceted picture of wealth distribution in Europe using the socio-economic characteristics available in the HFCS, and we show that inheritances are the single most important factor for wealth inequality. The structural power to shape economic and political institutions is thus ever more concentrated. Finally, we discuss three channels through which the unequal distribution of private assets may affect power relations and economic activity.

Suggested Citation

  • Miriam Rehm & Matthias Schnetzer, 2015. "Property and power: lessons from Piketty and new insights from the HFCS," European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies: Intervention, Edward Elgar Publishing, vol. 12(2), pages 204-219, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:elg:ejeepi:v:12:y:2015:i:2:p204-219
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Mathias Moser & Stefan Humer & Matthias Schnetzer, 2016. "Bequests and the accumulation of wealth in the Eurozone," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 149, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    2. Alyssa Schneebaum & Miriam Rehm & Katharina Mader & Katarina Hollan, 2018. "The Gender Wealth Gap Across European Countries," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 64(2), pages 295-331, June.
    3. Martijn Konings & Lisa Adkins & Dallas Rogers, 2021. "The institutional logic of property inflation," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 53(3), pages 448-456, May.
    4. Julia Hofmann & Miriam Rehm & Syed Ali Asjad Naqvi & Julia Hofmann & Miriam Rehm & Syed Ali Asjad Naqvi, 2016. "Different but Equal? Classes, Wealth, and Perceptions in Europe," Working Paper Reihe der AK Wien - Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft 160, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik.
    5. Mattias Muckenhuber & Miriam Rehm & Matthias Schnetzer, 2022. "A Tale of Integration? The Migrant Wealth Gap in Austria," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 38(2), pages 163-190, May.
    6. Fasianos, Apostolos & Tsoukalis, Panos, 2023. "Decomposing wealth inequalities in the wake of the Greek debt crisis," The Journal of Economic Asymmetries, Elsevier, vol. 28(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    wealth inequality; power; Piketty; Household Finance and Consumption Survey;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • E12 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General Aggregative Models - - - Keynes; Keynesian; Post-Keynesian; Modern Monetary Theory
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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