Search results for "Wealth distribution"
showing 8 items of 8 documents
From the kinetic theory of active particles to the modeling of social behaviors and politics
2007
This paper deals with the modeling of complex social systems by methods of the mathematical kinetic theory for active particles. Specifically, a recent model by the last two authors is analyzed from the social sciences point of view. The model shows, despite its simplicity, some interesting features. In particular, this paper investigates the ability of the model to describe how a social politics and the disposable overall wealth may have a relevant influence towards the trend of the wealth distribution. The paper also outlines various research perspectives.
Measuring economic inequality in Southern Europe: the Iberian Peninsula in the 14th-17th centuries
2020
This work explores the inequality of wealth in Spain during the late Middle Ages from six cities located in the kingdoms of Castile (Seville) and the Crown of Aragon (Barcelona, Valencia, Mallorca, Castelló and Valls), through tax sources that inform about the wealth of each taxpayer. These records provide very precise data on the wealth distribution that allow us to study inequality in an aggregate manner for the same city and, at the same time, perform sectoral analyses according to gender, different socio-professio¬nal groups and urban districts.
Modeling the enterprising character of European firms
2003
In an increasingly globalized economy, innovation pursuing the speeding up of technological changes takes a renewed interest. In this study, we attempt to show those characteristics and variables that make businesses successful, especially innovative small and medium‐sized enterprises. The article focuses on this business sector because the contribution of it to employment generation, wealth distribution and economy appraisal is frequently set to the fore in current political and economic debate. A study of 408 businesses, according to data from the European Commission and the Spanish Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial – Center for Industrial and Technological Development – (y…
On the Macroeconomic Effect of Extortion: An Agent-Based Approach
2021
This work proposes an agent-based approach to study the effect of extortion on macroeconomic aggregates, despite the fact that there is little data on this criminal activity given its hidden nature. We develop a Bottom-up Adaptive Macroeconomics (BAM) model that simulates a healthy economy, including a moderate inflation and a reasonable unemployment rate, and test the impact of extortion on various macroeconomic signals. The BAM model defines the usual interactions among workers, firms and banks in labour, goods and credit markets. Subsequently, crime is introduced by defining the propensity of the poorest workers to become extortionists, as well as the efficiency of the police in terms of…
Approaching Economic Inequality through Late Medieval Tax Records: Valls (1378), Sevile (1384) and Palma (1478)
2017
Wealth inequality in pre-industrial societies is a newly reinvigorated topic in economic history. Late medieval historians, particularly those of Iberia, face the challenge to catch up with their early modern counterparts. This proves completely possible due to the existence of analytic methods already developed in economics, as well as tax sources based on patrimony estimates of tax-payers. With the aim of addressing such a topic, this essay analyses three cases coming from various late medieval Iberian populations: Valls (1378), Seville (1384) and Palma (1478). In the case of Valls and Sevile the evidence has been based on transcriptions of available material, while for Palma we have stud…
Effects of unconventional monetary policy on income and wealth distribution: Evidence from United States and Eurozone
2019
As an answer to the “Great Recession” and Zero Lower Bound problem, main central banks had to use unconventional monetary policy (UMP). This research focuses on the distributive effects of these measures on household income and household wealth in the United States of America (USA) and the Eurozone. For this purpose, this paper presents four models that were constructed using the Structural Vector Autoregressive methodology (SVAR). The results suggest that the UMPs applied by the Federal Reserve (FED) in the USA could increase wealth and income inequality through the portfolio channel. However, the same results were not observed in the Eurozone. Key words: United States of America, Eurozone…
A Note on Laws of Motion for Aggregate Distributions
2020
I derive the law of motion for the aggregate distribution directly from the laws of motion for the individuals’ states. By relying on concepts from measure theory, the derivation is concise and intuitive. I address random shocks both at the micro level and at the macro level. Micro-level shocks completely cancel at the aggregate level provided that a law of large numbers applies. Therefore, the law of motion for the aggregate distribution is a deterministic process in the absence of macro-level uncertainty. If there are macro-level risks, the law of motion for the aggregate distribution exhibits a stochastic component additionally. I illustrate the formalism in a model of wealth accumulatio…
Inequality Fragility Hypothesis
2016
The last four decades have been marked by growing inequality. The inequality of income and wealth is one of the most important macroeconomic issues of our time. Inequality contributed to Global Savings Glut and Global Financial Crisis through riskiness channel and a greater propensity to borrow for poor people. This paper presents evidence that besides structural factors, monetary policy, high leverage and the development of new money substitutes are critical in explaining the inequality trend in advanced countries. Increasing economic inequality acts as financial instability enhancer and if left untreated it poses a significant threat to economic sustainability.