Abstract
We present a new data set we built based on Swiss rich lists going back to 1989. We show, among other things, that 60% of the super-rich are heirs—a fraction twice as large as in the US—and that wealth mobility at the very top has declined significantly. We find that top 0.01% wealth shares are higher than previous estimates based on wealth tax statistics suggest. At the same time, we argue that rich list data lead to overestimating wealth inequality. While rich lists are valuable to study the super-rich, we recommend to use reported wealth figures with caution.
This content is only available as a PDF.
© 2024 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2024
The President and Fellows of Harvard College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
You do not currently have access to this content.