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The Dynamics of Household Wealth Accumulation in Italy
Author(s) -
Jappelli Tullio,
Pistaferri Luigi
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
fiscal studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.63
H-Index - 40
eISSN - 1475-5890
pISSN - 0143-5671
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-5890.2000.tb00025.x
Subject(s) - representativeness heuristic , economics , national wealth , distribution (mathematics) , wealth distribution , wealth elasticity of demand , sample (material) , inequality , attrition , survey data collection , health and retirement study , demographic economics , household income , population , geography , finance , statistics , medicine , mathematical analysis , chemistry , demography , mathematics , sociology , gerontology , chromatography , dentistry , archaeology
We examine the dynamics of wealth accumulation distribution in Italy using data drawn from the Survey of Household Income and Wealth, a representative survey of the Italian population conducted by the Bank of Italy. We compare survey data with National Accounts data and discuss sample representativeness, attrition and measurement issues. We then look at wealth inequality (the cross‐sectional dispersion of wealth) and wealth mobility (individual transitions across the wealth distribution) and examine the age profile of wealth using repeated cross‐sectional data. Finally, we consider various explanations for the pattern of wealth accumulation in Italy, focusing on retirement, bequests, income risk, health shocks and credit market imperfections.