Arbeitspapier

Looking for the missing rich: Tracing the top tail of the wealth distribution

We analyze the top tail of the wealth distribution in Germany, France, and Spain based on the first and second wave of the Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS). Since top wealth is likely to be underrepresented in household surveys, we integrate big fortunes from rich lists, estimate a Pareto distribution, and impute the missing rich. In addition to the Forbes list, we rely on national rich lists since they represent a broader base for the big fortunes in those countries. As a result, the top percentile share of household wealth in Germany jumps up from 24 percent to 31 percent in the first and from 24 to 33 percent in the second wave 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.

Sprache
Englisch

Erschienen in
Series: DIW Discussion Papers ; No. 1717

Klassifikation
Wirtschaft
Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
Specific Distributions; Specific Statistics
Methodology for Collecting, Estimating, and Organizing Microeconomic Data; Data Access
Thema
wealth distribution
missing rich
Pareto distribution
HFCS

Ereignis
Geistige Schöpfung
(wer)
Bach, Stefan
Thiemann, Andreas
Zucco, Aline
Ereignis
Veröffentlichung
(wer)
Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)
(wo)
Berlin
(wann)
2018

Handle
Letzte Aktualisierung
10.03.2025, 11:43 MEZ

Datenpartner

Dieses Objekt wird bereitgestellt von:
ZBW - Deutsche Zentralbibliothek für Wirtschaftswissenschaften - Leibniz-Informationszentrum Wirtschaft. Bei Fragen zum Objekt wenden Sie sich bitte an den Datenpartner.

Objekttyp

  • Arbeitspapier

Beteiligte

  • Bach, Stefan
  • Thiemann, Andreas
  • Zucco, Aline
  • Deutsches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (DIW)

Entstanden

  • 2018

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