scholarly journals Inequality and market concentration, when shareholding is more skewed than consumption

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 550-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joshua Gans ◽  
Andrew Leigh ◽  
Martin Schmalz ◽  
Adam Triggs

AbstractEconomic theory suggests that monopoly prices hurt consumers but benefit shareholders. But in a world where individuals or households can be both consumers and shareholders, the impact of market power on inequality depends in part on the relative distribution of consumption and corporate equity ownership across individuals or households. The paper calculates this distribution for the United States, using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances and the Consumer Expenditure Survey, spanning nearly three decades from 1989 to 2016. In 2016, the top 20 per cent consumed approximately as much as the bottom 60 per cent, but had 15 times as much corporate equity. Because ownership is more skewed than consumption, increased mark-ups increase inequality. Moreover, over time, corporate equity has become even more skewed relative to consumption.

2002 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 131-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
NANCY AMMON JIANAKOPLOS ◽  
VICKIE L. BAJTELSMIT

Using data from the 1998 Survey of Consumer Finances, this paper examines the impact of dual private pension households on the distribution of household wealth in the United States. This paper builds on three lines of previous research: inquiries into ‘assortative mating’, i.e., the tendency for people with similar characteristics to marry; studies emphasizing the importance of pensions as a component of household wealth; and recent research examining how wives' earnings alter the distribution of household income. Evidence of ‘assortative private pensions’, i.e., the tendency for people with private pensions to be married to people with private pensions, is presented. Estimates of the expected value of private pension and social security wealth are added to measures of household non-retirement net worth to obtain the value household wealth. These data indicate that wives' private pensions in dual private pension households contribute marginally to greater equality in the wealth distribution.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly Pernell ◽  
Geoffrey Wodtke

Although privately held businesses are central to the American economy, little is known about how their assets are distributed among the population. In this study, we describe the household distribution of private business assets in the United States and examine how it has changed over time. Using data from the 1989-2019 Survey of Consumer Finances, we show that the relative number of business owners has remained stagnant at low levels and that assets in privately held firms have become increasingly concentrated among the wealthiest owners over time. At the most recent wave of data collection, the top 1% of households controlled nearly 80% of private business assets, up from about 70% in the late 1980s. We attempt to explain this trend by evaluating how technological change, the financialization of banking, and rising market power have influenced the distribution of private business assets in recent decades. Our findings suggest that all three factors contributed to increasing asset concentration in this sector.


2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wojciech Kopczuk

I discuss available evidence about the evolution of top wealth shares in the United States over the course of the 20th century. The three main approaches—the Survey of Consumer Finances, estate tax multiplier, and capitalization methods—generate generally consistent findings until mid-1980s but diverge since then, with the capitalization method showing a dramatic increase in wealth concentration and the other two methods showing at best a small increase. I discuss strengths and weaknesses of different approaches. The increase in capitalization estimates since 2000 is driven by a dramatic and puzzling increase in fixed income assets. There is evidence that estate tax estimates may not be sufficiently accounting for mortality improvements over time. The nonresponse and coverage issues in the SCF are a concern. I conclude that the changing nature of top incomes and the increased importance of self-made wealth may explain difficulties in implementing each of the methods and why the results diverge.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jesse Bricker ◽  
Jacob Krimmel ◽  
Rodney Ramcharan

This paper investigates the importance of status in household consumption and credit decisions using data from the Survey of Consumer Finances linked to tract-level data in the American Community Survey. We find that relatively richer households in the census tract use more debt and spend more on high-status cars. Also, county-level evidence shows that the consumption of high-status cars is higher in more unequal counties. These results suggest that greater income heterogeneity might shape household consumption and credit decisions, as relatively richer households signal their higher status to their neighbors through the consumption of visible status goods. This paper was accepted by Tomasz Piskorski, finance.


2021 ◽  
pp. 104398622110016
Author(s):  
Sinchul Back ◽  
Rob T. Guerette

Criminologists and crime prevention practitioners recognize the importance of geographical places to crime activities and the role that place managers might play in effectively preventing crime. Indeed, over the past several decades, a large body of work has highlighted the tendency for crime to concentrate across an assortment of geographic areas, where place management tends to be absent or weak. Nevertheless, there has been a paucity of research evaluating place management strategies and cybercrime within the virtual domain. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of place management techniques on reducing cybercrime incidents in an online setting. Using data derived from the information technology division of a large urban research university in the United States, this study evaluated the impact of an anti-phishing training program delivered to employees that sought to increase awareness and understanding of methods to better protect their “virtual places” from cybercrimes. Findings are discussed within the context of the broader crime and place literature.


1988 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 190-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard R. Verdugo ◽  
Naomi Turner Verdugo

This study addresses two issues: (1) the impact of overeducation on the earnings of male workers in the United States, and (2) white-minority earnings differences among males. Given that educational attainment levels are increasing among workers, there is some suspicion that earnings returns to education are not as great as might be expected. This topic is examined by including an overeducation variable in an earnings function. Regarding the second issue addressed in this article, little is actually known about white-minority differences because the bulk of such research compares whites and blacks. By including selected Hispanic groups in this analysis (Mexican Americans, Puerto Ricans, Cubans, and Other Hispanics) we are able to assess white-minority earnings differences to a greater degree. Using data from a 5% sample of the 1980 census to estimate an earnings function, we find that overeducated workers earn less than either undereducated or adequately educated workers. Second, we find that there are substantial earnings differences between whites and minorities, and, also, between the five minority groups examined.


2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (5) ◽  
pp. 483-497
Author(s):  
Weiwei Chen ◽  
Timothy F. Page

High-deductible health plans (HDHPs) have become increasingly prevalent among employer-sponsored health plans and plans offered through the Health Insurance Marketplace in the United States. This study examined the impact of deductible levels on health care experiences in terms of care access, affordability, routine checkup, out-of-pocket cost, and satisfaction using data from the Health Reform Monitoring Survey. The study also tested whether the experiences of Marketplace enrollees differed from off-Marketplace individuals, controlling for deductible levels. Results from multivariable and propensity score weighted regression models showed that many of the outcomes were adversely affected by deductible levels and Marketplace enrollment. These results highlight the importance of efforts to help individuals choose the plan that fits both their medical needs and their budgets. The study also calls for more attention to improving provider acceptance of HDHPs and Marketplace plans as these plans become increasingly common over time.


2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (5) ◽  
pp. 843-847 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Cantrell ◽  
Jidong Huang ◽  
Marisa Greenberg ◽  
Jeffrey Willett ◽  
Elizabeth Hair ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction The US market for electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) has grown rapidly in the last decade. There is limited published evidence examining changes in the ENDS marketplace prior to the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) deeming rule in 2016. This study describes US ENDS retail market trends from 2010 to 2016. Methods National data were obtained from Nielsen retail scanners for five product types: (1) disposables, (2) rechargeables, (3) cartridge replacements, (4) e-liquid bottle refills, and (5) specialty vapor products. We examined dollar sales, volume, price, brand, and flavor. Results Adjusted national sales increased from $11.6 million in 2010 to $751.2 million in 2016. The annual rate of sales growth rapidly increased before slowing through 2015. The rate of growth spiked in 2016. Market share for menthol products and other assorted flavors increased from 20% in 2010 to 52.1% by 2016. NJOY’s early market dominance shifted as tobacco industry brands entered the market and eventually captured 87.8% of share by 2016. Rechargeables and accompanying products comprised an increased proportion of total volume sold over time while disposable volume declined. Specialty vapor products appeared at retail in 2015. Conclusions Findings show strong early growth in the ENDS retail market followed by considerable slowing over time, despite a slight uptick in 2016. Trends reflect shifts to flavored products, newer generation “open-system” devices, lower prices, and tobacco industry brands. This study provides a baseline against which to compare the impact of FDA’s 2016 deeming rule and future actions on the ENDS marketplace. Implications This study uses market scanner data from US retail outlets to describe trends in the ENDS retail market from 2010 to 2016, providing a baseline against which to compare the impact of FDA’s 2016 deeming rule and future actions on the ENDS marketplace. Understanding historical market trends is valuable in assessing how future regulatory efforts and advances in ENDS technology may impact industry response and consumer uptake and use.


2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 189-202
Author(s):  
Brett O’Hara ◽  
Carla Medalia ◽  
Jerry J. Maples

Abstract Most research on health insurance in the United States uses the Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement. However, a recent redesign of the health insurance questions disrupted the historical time trend in 2013. Using data from the American Community Survey, which has a parallel trend in the uninsured rate, we model a bridge estimate of the uninsured rate using the traditional questions. Also, we estimate the effect of changing the questionnaire. We show that the impact of redesigning the survey varies substantially by subgroup. This approach can be used to produce bridge estimates when other questionnaires are redesigned.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. e0248702
Author(s):  
Brian Neelon ◽  
Fedelis Mutiso ◽  
Noel T. Mueller ◽  
John L. Pearce ◽  
Sara E. Benjamin-Neelon

Background Socially vulnerable communities may be at higher risk for COVID-19 outbreaks in the US. However, no prior studies examined temporal trends and differential effects of social vulnerability on COVID-19 incidence and death rates. Therefore, we examined temporal trends among counties with high and low social vulnerability to quantify disparities in trends over time. Methods We conducted a longitudinal analysis examining COVID-19 incidence and death rates from March 15 to December 31, 2020, for each US county using data from USAFacts. We classified counties using the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), a percentile-based measure from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with higher values indicating more vulnerability. Using a Bayesian hierarchical negative binomial model, we estimated daily risk ratios (RRs) comparing counties in the first (lower) and fourth (upper) SVI quartiles, adjusting for rurality, percentage in poor or fair health, percentage female, percentage of smokers, county average daily fine particulate matter (PM2.5), percentage of primary care physicians per 100,000 residents, daily temperature and precipitation, and proportion tested for COVID-19. Results At the outset of the pandemic, the most vulnerable counties had, on average, fewer cases per 100,000 than least vulnerable SVI quartile. However, on March 28, we observed a crossover effect in which the most vulnerable counties experienced higher COVID-19 incidence rates compared to the least vulnerable counties (RR = 1.05, 95% PI: 0.98, 1.12). Vulnerable counties had higher death rates starting on May 21 (RR = 1.08, 95% PI: 1.00,1.16). However, by October, this trend reversed and the most vulnerable counties had lower death rates compared to least vulnerable counties. Conclusions The impact of COVID-19 is not static but can migrate from less vulnerable counties to more vulnerable counties and back again over time.


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