Peering into the Vaults of the Super-Rich: Insights from Swiss Wealth Studies
- From Sonja Hennen
- Reading duration 2 min
The rise of wealth inequality, investigations into top wealth concentration, and concerns regarding tax base erosion have spotlighted the super-rich. Nevertheless, this affluent demographic has largely eluded comprehensive scrutiny in many nations, leaving a dearth of systematic evidence regarding their socio-economic status. As one of the few sources of data, the rich lists published by business magazines, in particular the Forbes 400 list, are therefore emerging as a favoured data reservoir for studying the super-rich.
A new study using rich lists now sheds light on the super-rich in Switzerland, famous for its status as an international tax haven. The authors, Enea Baselgia and Isabel Z. Martínez, have methodically compiled data spanning three decades to provide a comprehensive perspective on the dynamics of wealth accumulation and distribution among the wealthy elite.
One notable finding is the prevalence of inheritance among the super-rich, with 60% deriving their wealth from family bequests. This contrasts with patterns observed in the United States, where inherited wealth is a smaller proportion of wealth. The study also finds a marked decline in wealth mobility at the top, suggesting entrenched dynasties.
The data also shows the existence of gender disparities, with less than 10% of the super-rich being women and no significant trend towards an increase in female representation over time. In addition, the average age of this elite cohort has risen steadily since 1989, suggesting a concentration of wealth in older generations. Despite an increase in the number of top managers among the super-rich, they remain a minority within this privileged group.
A significant contribution of the paper also lies in the recalibration of top wealth shares, achieved by comparing rich list data with traditional wealth tax statistics. Baselgia and Martínez's findings suggest that the wealth of Switzerland's super-rich is more concentrated than previously thought, with the top 0.01% accounting for around 16% of the country's wealth.
However, the authors advise caution in interpreting rich list data as definitive. While valuable for understanding the social and economic dynamics of the super-rich, the reported wealth values have limitations. Furthermore, the omission of certain individuals from these lists introduces uncertainty into inequality measures derived from such data.