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The Top Tail of the Wealth Distribution in Germany, France, Spain, and Greece

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  • Stefan Bach
  • Andreas Thiemann
  • Aline Zucco

Abstract

We analyze the top tail of the wealth distribution in Germany, France, Spain, and Greece based on the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). Since top wealth is likely to be underrepresented in household surveys we integrate the big fortunes from rich lists, estimate a Pareto distribution, and impute the missing rich. Instead of the Forbes list we mainly rely on national rich lists since they represent a broader base for the big fortunes. As a result, the top percentile share of household wealth in Germany jumps up from 24 percent in the HFCS alone to 33 percent after top wealth imputation. For France and Spain we find only a small effect of the imputation since rich households are better captured in the survey. The results for Greece are ambiguous since the data do not show clear concentration patterns.

Suggested Citation

  • Stefan Bach & Andreas Thiemann & Aline Zucco, 2015. "The Top Tail of the Wealth Distribution in Germany, France, Spain, and Greece," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1502, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1502
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    11. Stefan Bach & Martin Beznoska & Viktor Steiner, 2014. "A Wealth Tax on the Rich to Bring Down Public Debt? Revenue and Distributional Effects of a Capital Levy in Germany," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 35, pages 67-89, March.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Thilo N H Albers & Charlotte Bartels & Moritz Schularick, 2022. "Wealth and its Distribution in Germany, 1895-2018," Working Papers halshs-03828863, HAL.
    3. Arthur B. Kennickell, 2019. "The tail that wags: differences in effective right tail coverage and estimates of wealth inequality," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 17(4), pages 443-459, December.
    4. 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.
    5. Juha Honkkila & Ilja Kristian Kavonius, 2016. "Deriving household indebtedness indicators by linking micro and macro balance sheet data," IFC Bulletins chapters, in: Bank for International Settlements (ed.), Combining micro and macro data for financial stability analysis, volume 41, Bank for International Settlements.
    6. Barth, Daniel & Papageorge, Nicholas W. & Thom, Kevin, 2017. "Genetic Ability, Wealth, and Financial Decision-Making," IZA Discussion Papers 10567, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    7. Sofie R. Waltl & Robin Chakraborty, 2022. "Missing the wealthy in the HFCS: micro problems with macro implications," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 20(1), pages 169-203, March.
    8. Demary, Markus & Hentze, Tobias & Kauder, Björn & Niehues, Judith, 2021. "Die Rolle der Betriebsvermögen in der Vermögensverteilung," Studien, Stiftung Familienunternehmen / Foundation for Family Businesses, number 250022, March.
    9. Dominik Bernhofer & Michael Ertl & Katharina Bohnenberger & Franziska Disslbacher & Julia Hofmann & Petra Innreiter & Markus Marterbauer & Patrick Mokre & Matthias Schnetzer, 2022. "Tax me if you can. Potenziale moderner Vermögensbesteuerung in Österreich," Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft - WuG, Kammer für Arbeiter und Angestellte für Wien, Abteilung Wirtschaftswissenschaft und Statistik, vol. 48(2), pages 207-230.
    10. Pasteau, Etienne & Zhu, Junyi, 2018. "Love and money with inheritance: Marital sorting by labor income and inherited wealth in the modern partnership," Discussion Papers 23/2018, Deutsche Bundesbank.
    11. Stefan Humer & Mathias Moser & Matthias Schnetzer, 2017. "Inheritances and the Accumulation of Wealth in the Eurozone," ICAE Working Papers 73, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.
    12. Zhu, Junyi & Steiner, Viktor, 2020. "A Joint Top Income and Wealth Distribution," VfS Annual Conference 2020 (Virtual Conference): Gender Economics 224651, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Späth Jochen & Schmid Kai Daniel, 2018. "The Distribution of Household Savings in Germany," Journal of Economics and Statistics (Jahrbuecher fuer Nationaloekonomie und Statistik), De Gruyter, vol. 238(1), pages 3-32, February.
    14. Hofbauer, Florian & Fehr, Hans, 2016. "Pension reform with entrepreneurial choice," VfS Annual Conference 2016 (Augsburg): Demographic Change 145714, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    15. Stefan Bach, 2016. "Erbschaftsteuer, Vermögensteuer oder Kapitaleinkommensteuer: Wie sollen hohe Vermögen stärker besteuert werden?," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1619, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    16. Bricker, Jesse & Hansen, Peter & Volz, Alice Henriques, 2019. "Wealth concentration in the U.S. after augmenting the upper tail of the survey of consumer finances," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    17. Steiner, Viktor & Zhu, Junyi, 2021. "A joint top income and wealth distribution," Discussion Papers 2021/3, Free University Berlin, School of Business & Economics.
    18. Jakob Kapeller & Florian Springholz & Bernhard Schuetz, 2016. "Internationale Tendenzen und Potentiale der Vermoegensbesteuerung," ICAE Working Papers 57, Johannes Kepler University, Institute for Comprehensive Analysis of the Economy.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Wealth distribution; missing rich; Pareto distribution;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • C46 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods: Special Topics - - - Specific Distributions
    • C81 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Data Collection and Data Estimation Methodology; Computer Programs - - - Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access

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