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Does Wealth Distribution and the Source of Wealth Matter for Economic Growth? Inherited v. Uninherited Billionaire Wealth and Billionaires’ Political Connections

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Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy

Part of the book series: International Economics Association ((IEA))

Abstract

Social scientists have grappled for decades with the key question of whether inequality in control over a society’s resources facilitates or hinders economic growth. While there is a large theoretical and empirical literature on this topic, the question is far from settled.

We thank (without implicating) Lakshmi Iyer, Scott Masten, Jagadeesh Sivadasan, Joel Slemrod, Dmitriy Stolyarov, and Dietrich Vollrath for helpful comments. We also thank seminar participants at the Central Bank of Poland, Columbia University, Harvard Business School, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the International Economic Association Roundtable, London Business School, the Midwest Economic Association Annual Conference, the Eastern Economic Association Annual Conference, University of Michigan, and Wesleyan University for helpful comments. Jan Svejnar also benefited from the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic (Grant P402-15-24642S).

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Villanova University, USA

    Sutirtha Bagchi

  2. Columbia University, USA

    Jan Svejnar

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  1. Sutirtha Bagchi
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  2. Jan Svejnar
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. World Bank, Washington DC, USA

    Kaushik Basu (Chief Economist) (Chief Economist)

  2. Columbia University, New York, USA

    Joseph E. Stiglitz (University Professor) (University Professor)

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Bagchi, S., Svejnar, J., Bischoff, K. (2016). Does Wealth Distribution and the Source of Wealth Matter for Economic Growth? Inherited v. Uninherited Billionaire Wealth and Billionaires’ Political Connections. In: Basu, K., Stiglitz, J.E. (eds) Inequality and Growth: Patterns and Policy. International Economics Association. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137554598_5

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