How does wealth shape societies? cross-national wealth inequality in historical perspective

Conference item

Does the distribution of economic wealth affect political outcomes? A rich theo- retical and empirical literature has shed light on the political consequences of income inequality, yet we do not know if asset distribution and changes in asset prices also have political ramifications. In this paper, we approach this question by theorizing about the differences between wealth and income and looking at empirical associations between different wealth measures and democratization as well as partisan ideology. We find considerable variation in the political consequences of different forms of wealth: while agrarian inequality and increases in top-wealth shares inhibit democratic transition, higher capital shares, higher stock prices, and higher house prices are associated with democratic consolidation. Furthermore, higher capital shares are associated with more conservative governments and more mortgage credit with a higher probability of left governments in power.

Authors: Ansell, B; Cansunar, A; Markgraf, J

• Publication status: Accepted
• Peer review status: Reviewed (other)
• Publisher: Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting
• Publication date: 2022-01-01
• Acceptance date: 2019-02-13
• Event title: 77th Midwest Political Science Association Annual Meeting (MPSA 2019)
• Event location: Chicago, IL
• Event website: https://www.mpsanet.org/
• Event start date: 2019-04-04
• Event end date: 2019-04-07
• Language: English
• Keywords: FFR