Wealth inequality, intergenerational transfers, and family background

We estimate the contribution of intergenerational transfers (inheritances and gifts) and family background to wealth inequality in four OECD countries: France, Spain, Great Britain, and the USA. We compare the observed wealth distribution with a non-parametric counterfactual distribution where all d...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Palomino, JC, Marrero, GA, Nolan, B, Rodríguez, JG
Format: Journal article
Language:English
Published: Oxford University Press 2021
_version_ 1797112590296416256
author Palomino, JC
Marrero, GA
Nolan, B
Rodríguez, JG
author_facet Palomino, JC
Marrero, GA
Nolan, B
Rodríguez, JG
author_sort Palomino, JC
collection OXFORD
description We estimate the contribution of intergenerational transfers (inheritances and gifts) and family background to wealth inequality in four OECD countries: France, Spain, Great Britain, and the USA. We compare the observed wealth distribution with a non-parametric counterfactual distribution where all differences in wealth associated with intergenerational transfers and family background are removed. Despite the diversity of the countries analysed, we find similar patterns. The combined contribution of intergenerational transfers and family background to wealth inequality is sizeable in the four countries, ranging from 36% in Great Britain to 49% in the USA. When interactions between the two factors are accounted for, and the Shapley value decomposition is used to fully disentangle the contribution of each factor based on its marginal contribution, intergenerational transfers account for between 26% in Great Britain and 36% of wealth inequality in France, with family background ranging from 9% in France to 17% in the USA.
first_indexed 2024-03-07T08:27:43Z
format Journal article
id oxford-uuid:7bd9bf7b-da6e-4974-a09e-7fffbc797a56
institution University of Oxford
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-07T08:27:43Z
publishDate 2021
publisher Oxford University Press
record_format dspace
spelling oxford-uuid:7bd9bf7b-da6e-4974-a09e-7fffbc797a562024-02-21T17:01:12ZWealth inequality, intergenerational transfers, and family backgroundJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:7bd9bf7b-da6e-4974-a09e-7fffbc797a56EnglishSymplectic ElementsOxford University Press2021Palomino, JCMarrero, GANolan, BRodríguez, JGWe estimate the contribution of intergenerational transfers (inheritances and gifts) and family background to wealth inequality in four OECD countries: France, Spain, Great Britain, and the USA. We compare the observed wealth distribution with a non-parametric counterfactual distribution where all differences in wealth associated with intergenerational transfers and family background are removed. Despite the diversity of the countries analysed, we find similar patterns. The combined contribution of intergenerational transfers and family background to wealth inequality is sizeable in the four countries, ranging from 36% in Great Britain to 49% in the USA. When interactions between the two factors are accounted for, and the Shapley value decomposition is used to fully disentangle the contribution of each factor based on its marginal contribution, intergenerational transfers account for between 26% in Great Britain and 36% of wealth inequality in France, with family background ranging from 9% in France to 17% in the USA.
spellingShingle Palomino, JC
Marrero, GA
Nolan, B
Rodríguez, JG
Wealth inequality, intergenerational transfers, and family background
title Wealth inequality, intergenerational transfers, and family background
title_full Wealth inequality, intergenerational transfers, and family background
title_fullStr Wealth inequality, intergenerational transfers, and family background
title_full_unstemmed Wealth inequality, intergenerational transfers, and family background
title_short Wealth inequality, intergenerational transfers, and family background
title_sort wealth inequality intergenerational transfers and family background
work_keys_str_mv AT palominojc wealthinequalityintergenerationaltransfersandfamilybackground
AT marreroga wealthinequalityintergenerationaltransfersandfamilybackground
AT nolanb wealthinequalityintergenerationaltransfersandfamilybackground
AT rodriguezjg wealthinequalityintergenerationaltransfersandfamilybackground