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Inherited Wealth over the Path of Development: Sweden, 1810–2016

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  • Henry Ohlsson
  • Jesper Roine
  • Daniel Waldenström

Abstract

We estimate the importance of inherited wealth in Sweden over the past 200 years. Inheritance is measured both as the annual inheritance flow divided by national income and as the share of inherited wealth in all private wealth. In the 19th century, Sweden differs from France and the United Kingdom in having much lower inheritance–income flows, but at the same time exhibiting equally large shares of inherited wealth in total wealth. This pattern is in line with Sweden at the time being a poor country with low domestic capital accumulation, but at the same time exhibiting high economic growth rates. In the 20th century the importance of inheritance in relation to national income fell, but since the 1990s it has increased rapidly, today reaching almost the same levels as a century ago. The share of inherited wealth in total wealth has also fallen over time, but remains relatively low due to a rapid accumulation of new wealth. We study potential determinants and explanations, pointing especially to Swedish welfare-state institutions, and in particular to the development of an extensive public occupational pension system contributing to keeping private inheritance low.

Suggested Citation

  • Henry Ohlsson & Jesper Roine & Daniel Waldenström, 2020. "Inherited Wealth over the Path of Development: Sweden, 1810–2016," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 18(3), pages 1123-1157.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:jeurec:v:18:y:2020:i:3:p:1123-1157.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/jeea/jvz038
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    Cited by:

    1. Hongyao Wei & Zhengyi Yang, 2022. "The Impact of Inheritance on the Distribution of Wealth: Evidence from China," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 68(1), pages 234-262, March.
    2. Mauricio De Rosa, 2022. "Accumulation, inheritance and wealth distribution: first estimates of the untold half," Documentos de Trabajo (working papers) 22-07, Instituto de Economía - IECON.
    3. Bertrand Garbinti & Frédérique Savignac, 2020. "Accounting for Intergenerational Wealth Mobility in France over the 20th Century: Method and Estimations," Working papers 776, Banque de France.
    4. Pelgrin, Florian & Venditti, Alain, 2022. "On the long-run fluctuations of inheritance in two-sector OLG models," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    5. Alexander Krenek & Margit Schratzenstaller-Altzinger & Klaus Grünberger & Andreas Thiemann, 2021. "INTAXMOD – Inheritance and Gift Taxation in the Context of Ageing," WIFO Working Papers 645, WIFO.
    6. Daniel Waldenström, 2021. "Wealth and History: An Update," CESifo Working Paper Series 9366, CESifo.
    7. Andrea F.M. Martinangeli & Biljana Meiske, 2022. "The influence premium of monetary rank," Working Papers tax-mpg-rps-2022-08, Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance.
    8. Bali, Turan G. & Gunaydin, A. Doruk & Jansson, Thomas & Karabulut, Yigitcan, 2023. "Do the rich gamble in the stock market? Low risk anomalies and wealthy households," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(2).
    9. Sandra E. Black & Paul J. Devereux & Fanny Landaud & Kjell G. Salvanes, 2022. "The (Un)Importance of Inheritance," CESifo Working Paper Series 9566, CESifo.
    10. Margit Schratzenstaller, 2023. "Behavioral Responses to Inheritance Taxation. A Review of the Empirical Literature," WIFO Working Papers 668, WIFO.
    11. Waldenström, Daniel, 2021. "Wealth and History: An Update," Working Paper Series 1411, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.

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