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Discontinuities in the Distribution of Great Wealth: Sectoral Forces Old and New

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  • Leonard Broom
  • William Shay

Abstract

National surveys of household economics and well-being in the United States usually focus on income. In those income surveys with supplemental wealth modules, the very rich are underrepresented if not unrepresented. Typically, wealth data are truncated such that they do not afford a view of the extreme top of the distribution. Therefore, we attempt to supplement our knowledge about elite wealth holdings by compiling data on the richest individuals and families in the United States. To do so, we draw from the rosters of the "Forbes Four Hundred," which have been published annually by Forbes magazine since 1982. Along with information from other business press reports and standard biographical sources, rosters of the very rich enable research on inequality at the extreme of the wealth distribution during a period of dramatic change in the composition and concentration of wealth. In this study, we focus analytically on economic sectors because we are interested less in the maldistribution of wealth by demographic groups than in inequality between different economic sectors. We will first specify our analytical approach, then examine issues in the use of business press rosters of the very rich as a data source, and follow with a discussion of the dimensions and categories of our sector typology. After presenting our results, we will address how sectoral forces old and new affect economic opportunity and great wealth outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Leonard Broom & William Shay, 2000. "Discontinuities in the Distribution of Great Wealth: Sectoral Forces Old and New," Economics Working Paper Archive wp_308, Levy Economics Institute.
  • Handle: RePEc:lev:wrkpap:wp_308
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    1. Richard T. Curtin & Thomas Juster & James N. Morgan, 1989. "Survey Estimates of Wealth: An Assessment of Quality," NBER Chapters, in: The Measurement of Saving, Investment, and Wealth, pages 473-552, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Robert E. Lipsey & Helen Stone Tice, 1989. "The Measurement of Saving, Investment, and Wealth," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number lips89-1.
    3. Erik Hurst & Ming Ching Luoh & Frank P. Stafford, 1998. "The Wealth Dynamics of American Families, 1984-94," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 29(1), pages 267-338.
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    1. BILOA ESSIMI, Jean Aristide & CHAMENI NEMBUA, Celestin, 2013. "Estimation D’Une Ligne D’Affluence : Cas Du Cameroun [Affluence Line Estimation: Case Of Cameroon]," MPRA Paper 48095, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Marcelo Medeiros, 2006. "Poverty, inequality and redistribution: A methodology to define the rich," Working Papers 18, International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth.
    3. Hugh Rockoff, 2008. "Great Fortunes of the Gilded Age," NBER Working Papers 14555, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Chameni Nembua, Célestin & Biloa Essimi, Jean Aristide, 2013. "Who is Rich in Cameroun? [Who is Rich in Cameroon?]," MPRA Paper 48024, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Korom, Philipp & Lutter, Mark & Beckert, Jens, 2015. "The enduring importance of family wealth: Evidence from the Forbes 400, 1982 to 2013," MPIfG Discussion Paper 15/8, Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies.

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