The Comfortable, the Rich, and the Super-Rich. What Really Happened to Top British Incomes during the First Half of the Twentieth Century

Datos Bibliográficos

ID10098564
AutoresPeter Scott (0000-0003-1230-9040, University of Reading, autor de correspondencia), James T Walker (0000-0002-3477-0236, University of Reading)
Año2019
Volumen80
Número1
Páginas38-68
Fecha de publicación2019-12-26
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaThe Journal of Economic History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0022-0507 • E-ISSN: 1471-6372
EditorialCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0022050719000767
OpenAlexW2915365310
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas5
Referencias citadas49

We examine shifts in British income inequality and their causes from 1911–1949. Using newly rediscovered Inland Revenue income distribution estimates, we show that Britain had an unusually high concentration of personal incomes in 1911 compared to other industrial nations. We also find that Britain’s substantial inequality reduction over the next four decades was largely driven by a collapse in top capital incomes. This parallels findings for France, the United States, and other western countries, that reduced inequality was mainly caused by declining top unearned incomes, owing to economic shocks, policy responses, and non-market mechanisms associated with the retreat from globalization

Capital (architecture · Demographic economics · Development economics · Distribution (mathematics · Economic inequality · Economics · Geography · Globalization · Income distribution · Inequality · Labour economics · Market economy · Parallels · Revenue · Economic Theory and Policy · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Political and Economic history of UK and US