Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t8hqh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T17:26:38.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The evolution of top income and wealth shares in Portugal since 1936*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 March 2010

Jordi Guilera
Jordi Guilera
Affiliation:
Facultat de Ciències Econòmiques i Empresarials. Departament d’Història i Institucions Econòmiques. Universitat de Barcelona. Diagonal, 690, 08034 Barcelona, Spain. [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper presents new statistical evidence on the long-term evolution of economic inequality in Portugal. Portuguese tax sources have been employed to estimate top income and wealth shares (TIS and TWS) from 1936 onwards. The new series shows that the Second World War had a negative and non-permanent effect on the evolution of TIS, but not on TWS, which increased until the mid 1950s. From the mid 1950s to the early 1980s, there was a sharp decline in TIS and TWS. Finally, during the 1990s, TIS increased again. The reasons behind the Portuguese distributive pattern seem to be more economic than political.

Resumen

El objetivo de este artículo es presentar nueva información estadística sobre la evolución de las desigualdades económicas en Portugal a largo plazo. La explotación de las fuentes fiscales portuguesas ha permitido la estimación de las top income and wealth shares (TIS y TWS) desde 1936. Estas nuevas series revelan que la Segunda Guerra Mundial tuvo un impacto negativo no permanente sobre las TIS, pero no sobre las TWS. Desde mediados de los cincuenta hasta principios de los ochenta, TIS y TWS cayeron con intensidad. Finalmente, durante los años noventa las TIS volvieron a aumentar. Las razones que hay detrás de la pauta distributiva portuguesa parecen ser más de índole económica que política.

Keywords

top incomesPortugaleconomic inequalityD31, O15, H24top incomes, Portugal, desigualdades económicas
Type
Articles/Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 28 , Issue 1 , March 2010 , pp. 139 - 171
Copyright
Copyright © Instituto Figuerola de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid 2010

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

STATISTICAL SOURCES

INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTATÍSTICA (1936-1966): Anuário estatístico das contribuiçoes e impostos.Google Scholar
INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTATÍSTICA (1967-1982): Estatísticas das contribuiçoes e impostos.Google Scholar
INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTATÍSTICA (1989-1999): Estatísticas das receitas fiscais.Google Scholar
INSTITUTO NACIONAL DE ESTATÍSTICA (1930-2000): Recenseamento geral da populaçao.Google Scholar

REFERENCES

Alvaredo, F . (2008): «Top Incomes and Earnings in Portugal 1936-2004». PSE Working Papers no.17.Google Scholar
Alvaredo, F. (2009): «Top Income and Earnings in Portugal 1936-2005». Explorations in Economic History, 46 (4), pp. 404-417.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, A. (2007): «Measuring Top Incomes: Methodological Issues», in A. Atkinson, and T. Piketty (eds), Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast Between Continental European and English Speaking. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 18-42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, A., Gordon, J.Harrison, A. (1989): «Trends in the Shares of Top Wealth-Holders in Britain 1923-1981». Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 51 (3), pp. 315-332.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Atkinson, A.Piketty, T. (2007): Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast between Continental European and English Speaking Countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Batista, D., Martins, C., Pinheiro, M.Reis, J. (1997): «New Estimates for Portugal’s GDP, 1910–1958». História Económica, 7, p. 88.Google Scholar
Deininger, K.Squire, L. (1996): «A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality». The World Bank Economic Review, 10 (3), pp. 565-591.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dell, F., Piketty, T., Saez, E. (2005): «Income and wealth concentration in Switzerland over the 20th century», CEPR Discussion Papers no. 5090.Google Scholar
Feenberg, D., Poterba, J (1993): «Income Inequality and the Incomes of Very High Income Taxpayers: Evidence from Tax Returns». NBER. Working paper no. 4229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guilera, J. (2008): «Top Income Shares in Portugal Over the Twentieth Century». Working paper E08/195, Documents de treball de la Facultat de Ciències Econòmiques i Empresarials. Col-lecció d’Economia, Universitat de Barcelona.Google Scholar
Kopczuk, W., Saez, E . (2004): «Top Wealth Shares in the United States: 1916-2000: Evidence from Estate Tax Returns». NBER Working Papers no. 10399.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuznets, S. (1953): Share of Upper Income Groups in Income and Savings. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.Google Scholar
Kuznets, S. (1955): «Economic Growth and Income Distribution». The American Economic Review, 45 (1), pp. 1-28.Google Scholar
Lains, P. (2003a): «Catching up to the European core: Portuguese Economic Growth, 1910-1990». Explorations in Economic History, 40 (4), pp. 369-386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lains, P . (2003b): «Portugal’s Growth Paradox, 1870-1950». Working Paper 135, Faculdade de Economia, Universidade do Porto.Google Scholar
Lains, P., Gomes, E., Guilera, J . (2008): «Are Dictatorships More Unequal? Economic Growth and Wage Inequality during Portugal’s Estado Novo, 1944-1974». Working Papers in Economic History WP 08-08, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Historia Económica e Instituciones.Google Scholar
Leigh, A. (2007): «How Closely Do Top Income Shares Track Other Measures of Inequality?». Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, 117 (524), pp. 619-633.Google Scholar
Leitao, L. (2001): «Evoluçao e Situaçao da Reforma Fiscal». Ciencia e Técnica Fiscal 387, pp. 7-47.Google Scholar
Oliveira Marques, A. H. (1991): História de Portugal. Lisboa: Imprensa Nacional — Casa da Moeda.Google Scholar
Piketty, T. (2001): Les Hauts Revenues en France au XXè siècle — Inegalités et Redistributions, 1901-1998. Paris: Grasset.Google Scholar
Piketty, T. (2007): «Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century: A Summary of the Main Findings», in A. Atkinson, and T. Piketty (eds), Top Incomes over the Twentieth Century: A Contrast Between Continental European and English Speaking Countries. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 1-17.Google Scholar
Piketty, T., Saez, E. (2006): «Income Inequality in the United States, 1913-1998». National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper 8467.Google Scholar
Piketty, T., Postel-Vinay, G.Rosenthal, J. L. (2006): «Wealth Concentration in a Developing Economy: Paris and France, 1807-1994». American Economic Review, 96 (1), pp. 236-256.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pinheiro, M. (1997): Séries Longas para a Economia Portuguesa. Pós II Guerra Mundial, vol. I — Séries Estatísticas. Lisbon: Banco de Portugal.Google Scholar
Ribeiro, J. (1968): «A Contra-reforma Fiscal», in A Reforma Fiscal. Coimbra: Coimbra Editora.Google Scholar
Rodrigues, C. F. (1999): «Repartição do Rendimento e Pobreza em Portugal [1994/95] — Uma comparação entre o Painel Dos Agregados Familiares e o Inquérito aos Orçamentos Familiares». Revista De Estatística, V (1), pp. 117-142.Google Scholar
Roine, J., Waldenström, D. (2007): «Wealth Concentration over the Path of Development: Sweden 1873-2005». Working Paper Series in Economics and Finance no. 677, Stockholm School of Economics.Google Scholar
Roine, J.,Waldenström, D. (2009): «Wealth Concentration over the Path of Development: Sweden, 1873-2006». Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 111 (1), pp. 151-187.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Valerio, N. (1994): As Finanças Públicas Portuguesas entre as duas Guerras Mundiais. Lisbon: Ediçoes Cosmos.Google Scholar
Valerio, N. (2001): Estatísticas Históricas Portuguesas. Lisbon: Instituto Nacional de Estatística.Google Scholar