
handle: 10419/284032
Wealthier individuals have stronger incentives to seek higher returns. We investigate the effect that this has on long-run wealth inequality. Incorporating capital management into a standard Ramsey-Cass-Koopmans model generates substantial long-run inequality: the majority of the population works and holds no capital, while a small minority holds a large amount of capital and manages it full time. Counterintuitively, financial innovations or policies that reduce return differentials increase long-run wealth inequality. Egalitarian steady states may exist but are inefficient and unstable: a small concentration in capital ownership causes a transition to an unequal steady state. Capital management introduces a novel equity-efficiency tradeoff: scale economies make it efficient for a few individuals to manage capital full-time, but under laissez-faire this generates substantial inequality. A utilitarian planner would instead instruct a few individuals to manage capital on behalf of society and transfer most of their income to the workers.
capital, ddc:330, information, returns, D83, financial innovation, E22, wealth inequality, D31, G51, management, E21
capital, ddc:330, information, returns, D83, financial innovation, E22, wealth inequality, D31, G51, management, E21
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