Who Are the Global Top 1%?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Who Are the Global Top 1%?

AU - Anand, Sudhir

AU - Segal, Paul

PY - 2017/7

Y1 - 2017/7

N2 - This paper presents the first in-depth analysis of the changing composition of the global income rich and the rising representation of developing countries at the top of the global distribution. We construct global distributions of income during 1988-2012 based on both household surveys and the new top incomes data derived from tax records, which better capture the rich who are typically excluded from household surveys. We find that the representation of developing countries in the global top 1% declined until about 2002, but that since 2005 it has risen significantly. This coincides with a decline in global inequality since 2005, according to a range of measures. We compare our estimates of the country-composition and income levels of the global rich with a number of other sources-including Credit Suisse's estimates of global wealth, the Forbes World Billionaires List, attendees of the World Economic Forum, and estimates of top executives' salaries. To varying degrees, all show a rise in the representation of the developing world in the ranks of the global elite.

AB - This paper presents the first in-depth analysis of the changing composition of the global income rich and the rising representation of developing countries at the top of the global distribution. We construct global distributions of income during 1988-2012 based on both household surveys and the new top incomes data derived from tax records, which better capture the rich who are typically excluded from household surveys. We find that the representation of developing countries in the global top 1% declined until about 2002, but that since 2005 it has risen significantly. This coincides with a decline in global inequality since 2005, according to a range of measures. We compare our estimates of the country-composition and income levels of the global rich with a number of other sources-including Credit Suisse's estimates of global wealth, the Forbes World Billionaires List, attendees of the World Economic Forum, and estimates of top executives' salaries. To varying degrees, all show a rise in the representation of the developing world in the ranks of the global elite.

KW - Extreme wealth

KW - Global inequality

KW - Global top 1%

KW - Top incomes

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85016463034&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.02.001

DO - 10.1016/j.worlddev.2017.02.001

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85016463034

SN - 0305-750X

VL - 95

SP - 111

EP - 126

JO - WORLD DEVELOPMENT

JF - WORLD DEVELOPMENT

ER -