Working Paper: NBER ID: w23712
Authors: Filip Novokmet; Thomas Piketty; Gabriel Zucman
Abstract: This paper combines national accounts, survey, wealth and fiscal data (including recently released tax data on high-income taxpayers) in order to provide consistent series on the accumulation and distribution of income and wealth in Russia from the Soviet period until the present day. We find that official survey-based measures vastly under-estimate the rise of inequality since 1990. According to our benchmark estimates, top income shares are now similar to (or higher than) the levels observed in the United States. We also find that inequality has increased substantially more in Russia than in China and other ex-communist countries in Eastern Europe. We relate this finding to the specific transition strategy followed in Russia. According to our benchmark estimates, the wealth held offshore by rich Russians is about three times larger than official net foreign reserves, and is comparable in magnitude to total household financial assets held in Russia.
Keywords: Inequality; Wealth Distribution; Russia; Post-Soviet Transition
JEL Codes: D31; E01; E21; O52
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| transition from communism to capitalism (P20) | increase in income inequality (D31) |
| transition from communism to capitalism (P20) | increase in wealth inequality (D31) |
| transition from communism to capitalism (P20) | increase in top income shares (D33) |
| specific transition strategy followed in Russia (P21) | increase in inequality compared to China and other ex-communist countries (P29) |
| capital flight (F21) | accumulation of offshore wealth (F64) |