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Cited by 3,769Income, Poverty, and InequalityEconomic Theory and PolicyLabor market dynamics and wage inequality

Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998

Piketty, T., Saez, E.·2003·The Quarterly Journal of Economics
DOI 10.1162/00335530360535135
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Abstract

This paper presents new homogeneous series on top shares of income and wages from 1913 to 1998 in the United States using individual tax returns data. Top income and wages shares display a U-shaped pattern over the century. Our series suggest that the large shocks that capital owners experienced during the Great Depression and World War II have had a permanent effect on top capital incomes. We argue that steep progressive income and estate taxation may have prevented large fortunes from fully recovering from these shocks. Top wage shares were flat before World War II, dropped precipitously during the war, and did not start to recover before the late 1960s but are now higher than before World War II. As a result, the working rich have replaced the rentiers at the top of the income distribution.

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Crossref · 10.1162/00335530360535135

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1 of 1 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

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  • The top percentile income share in the United States has more than doubled from less than 10 percent in the 1970s to over 20 percent in recent years.

    “The top percentile income share has more than doubled from less than 10 percent in the 1970s to over 20 percent in recent years (Piketty and Saez 2003).”

    From Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities (2014) · cites this paper as Piketty and Saez 2003

  • Piketty and Saez (2003) show that the surge in US top income shares since the 1970s is higher in the upper part of the top percentile (top 0.1 percent and especially top 0.01 percent).

    “Importantly, Piketty and Saez (2003) show that the surge in US top income shares since the 1970s is higher in the upper part of the top percentile (top 0.1 percent and especially top 0.01 percent).”

    From Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities (2014) · cites this paper as Piketty and Saez (2003)

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Authors
Piketty, T., & Saez, E.
Affiliations
  • Centre Pour La Recherche Economique et ses Applications (FR)
  • National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
ORCID
Piketty, T.
Venue
The Quarterly Journal of Economics
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Published
2003-02-01
Volume
118
Issue
1
Pages
1-41
ISSN
  • 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
  • 1531-4650
DOI
10.1162/00335530360535135
OpenAlex
W2148501506
Cited by
3,769
References
1
Citations by year
2026: 75 · 2025: 168 · 2024: 146 · 2023: 149 · 2022: 234 · 2021: 211 · 2020: 192 · 2019: 208 · 2018: 209 · 2017: 229 · 2016: 234 · 2015: 245 · 2014: 242 · 2013: 214 · 2012: 191
FWCI
226.50
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
  • The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Income, Poverty, and Inequality
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › General Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economic Theory and Policy
  • Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Labor market dynamics and wage inequality
Keywords
income inequality, top income shares, capital income, wage share, Great Depression, World War II, estate tax, progressive taxation, rentiers, income distribution, United States

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