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Media type:
E-Book;
Report
Title:
The enduring importance of family wealth: Evidence from the Forbes 400, 1982 to 2013
Contributor:
Korom, Philipp
[Author];
Lutter, Mark
[Author];
Beckert, Jens
[Author]
imprint:
Cologne: Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, 2015
Language:
English
Origination:
Footnote:
Diese Datenquelle enthält auch Bestandsnachweise, die nicht zu einem Volltext führen.
Description:
The social science literature proposes two competing explanatory frameworks for the existence and longevity of super-fortunes: superstar or winner-take-all mechanisms, suggesting an increased dominance of new self-made billionaires; and mechanisms focusing on inherited advantages, suggesting an enduring importance of old family fortunes. Using panel data from the USA's annual Forbes 400 ranking (1982-2013), this study analyzes factors that increase or decrease the likelihood of remaining listed among the American super-rich. We find initially that the percentages of self-made entrepreneurs among the highest wealth echelons of US society have increased significantly since 1982. Sectors that improved the most are finance (including hedge funds and private equity), new technology and mass retail. The decline of inheritance as a source of wealth and the rise of new tech and finance fortunes suggest low reproduction rates among super-rich property owners. Family wealth, however, plays an important role if the longevity of fortunes is considered. While the literature predicts family fortunes to be taxed away, divided among a large number of heirs, or lost through incompetence, we find that scions of inherited great wealth (mostly up to the third generation) are more likely to remain listed in the Forbes 400 roster than self-made entrepreneurs. We conclude that even though entrepreneurship increasingly matters for becoming super-rich, it is first and foremost the ability of rich family dynasties to retain control over corporations and to access sophisticated financial advice that makes fortunes last. ; Die sozialwissenschaftliche Literatur zur Existenz und Langlebigkeit von Superreichtum bietet zwei konkurrierende Erklärungsansätze: zum einen Superstar- oder Winner-take-all-Mechanismen, die zu einer Zunahme von Selfmade-Milliardären führen; zum anderen aus ererbten Vorteilen entstehende Mechanismen, aus denen sich eine fortlaufende Konzentration alter Familienvermögen ergibt. Mithilfe eines Längsschnittdatensatzes aus ...