Bukowski, Paweł;
Novokmet, Filip;
(2021)
Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015.
Journal of Economic Growth
, 26
(2)
pp. 187-239.
10.1007/s10887-021-09190-1.
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Abstract
We construct the first consistent series on the long-term distribution of income in Poland by combining tax, household survey and national accounts data. We document a U-shaped evolution of inequalities from the end of the nineteenth century until today: (1) inequality was high before WWII; (2) abruptly fell after the introduction of communism in 1947 and stagnated at low levels during the whole communist period; (3) experienced a sharp rise with the return to capitalism in 1989. We find that official survey-based measures strongly under-estimate the rise in inequality since 1989. Our results highlight the prominent role of capital income in driving the U-shaped evolution of top income shares. The unique inequality history of Poland speaks to the central role of institutions and policies in shaping inequality in the long run.
Type: | Article |
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Title: | Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015 |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1007/s10887-021-09190-1 |
Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1007/s10887-021-09190-1 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | © 2022 Springer Nature Switzerland AG. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
Keywords: | Income inequality, Transformation, Poland |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > SSEES UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10156300 |
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