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Income and Wealth Volatility: Evidence from Italy and the U.S. in the Past Two Decades

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  • Conchita D'Ambrosio
  • Giorgia Menta
  • Edward N. Wolff

Abstract

Income volatility and wealth volatility are central objects of investigation for the literature on income and wealth inequality and dynamics. Here we analyse the two concepts in a comparative perspective for the same individuals in Italy and the U.S. over the last two decades. Contrary to our expectations, we find that in both countries wealth volatility reaches significantly higher values than income volatility, the effect being mostly driven by changes in the market value of real estate assets. We also show that there is more volatility in both dimensions in the United States and that the overall trend in both countries is increasing over time. We conclude by exploring volatility in consumption.

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  • Conchita D'Ambrosio & Giorgia Menta & Edward N. Wolff, 2019. "Income and Wealth Volatility: Evidence from Italy and the U.S. in the Past Two Decades," NBER Working Papers 26527, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26527
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    Cited by:

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    2. Larsen, Vance & Carriaga, Riona & Wething, Hilary & Zhao, Jiaying & Hall, Crystal, 2023. "Behavioral consequences of income and expense shocks," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    3. Jonathan D. Fisher & David S. Johnson, 2020. "Inequality and Mobility over the Past Half-Century Using Income, Consumption, and Wealth," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Distribution and Mobility of Income and Wealth, pages 437-455, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution

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