Estimating the Distribution of Household Wealth in South Africa
dc.article.end-page | 54 | |
dc.article.start-page | 1 | |
dc.contributor.author | Chatterjee, Aroop | |
dc.contributor.author | Czajka, Léo | |
dc.contributor.author | Gethin, Amory | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2022-12-21T10:27:54Z | |
dc.date.available | 2022-12-21T10:27:54Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2020-04 | |
dc.department | Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) | |
dc.description.abstract | This paper estimates the distribution of personal wealth in South Africa by combining tax microdata covering the universe of income tax returns, household surveys and macroeconomic balance sheets statistics. We systematically compare estimates of the wealth distribution obtained by direct measurement of net worth, rescaling of reported wealth to balance sheets totals, and capitalisation of income flows. We document major inconsistencies between available data sources, in particular regarding the measurement of dividends, corporate assets and wealth held through trusts. Both household surveys and tax data remain insufficient to properly capture capital incomes. Notwithstanding a significant degree of uncertainty, our findings reveal unparalleled levels of wealth concentration. The top 10 per cent own 86 per cent of aggregate wealth and the top 0.1 per cent close to one third. The top 0.01 per cent of the distribution (3,500 individuals) concentrate 15 per cent of household net worth, more than the bottom 90 per cent as a whole. Such high levels of inequality can be accounted for in all forms of assets at the top end, including housing, pension funds and other financial assets. Our series show no sign of decreasing wealth inequality since apartheid: if anything, we find that inequality has remained broadly stable and has even slightly increased within top wealth groups. | |
dc.description.librarian | ES2022 | |
dc.description.sponsorship | Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) | |
dc.description.sponsorship | University of the Witwatersrand | |
dc.faculty | Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management | |
dc.identifier.uri | https://hdl.handle.net/10539/33928 | |
dc.language.iso | en | |
dc.orcid.id | 0000-0002-4962-7512 | |
dc.orcid.id | 0000-0002-8338-5270 | |
dc.publisher | Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) | |
dc.publisher | University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg | |
dc.relation.ispartofseries | SCIS Working Paper; 3 | |
dc.rights | ©2020 Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) | |
dc.school | Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS) | |
dc.subject | Wealth Inequality | |
dc.subject | Distribution of personal wealth in South Africa | |
dc.subject | Tax microdata | |
dc.subject | Income tax returns | |
dc.subject | Macroeconomic balance sheets statistics | |
dc.subject | Capitalisation of income flows | |
dc.subject | Levels of wealth concentration | |
dc.title | Estimating the Distribution of Household Wealth in South Africa | |
dc.type | Working Paper |
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