Possibilities and limits of wealth reporting

As part of the project “Possibilities and limits of wealth reporting”, the IAW was commissioned by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs to carry out a comprehensive review of work in the field of empirical wealth research. The focus was on research for Germany. In addition, a look was taken at studies in other developed economies, with a focus on Europe and North America.

Based on an inventory, the central aim of the project was to identify research gaps in wealth research and wealth reporting in Germany to date and to make suggestions as to how these can be closed. In particular, the aim was to compare previous work on the topic of wealth within the framework of the Federal Government's poverty and wealth reporting with the research potential identified and thus to formulate concrete and realistic proposals for the further development of the Federal Government's wealth reporting. This included aspects of content and methodology as well as the use of additional data bases. Finally, connections between income and asset wealth and related areas of research - such as educational research, labor market research, gender research and elite research - were also included in the analysis.

Against the background of a comprehensive approach to the definition of wealth, which also includes non-financial aspects of wealth, a focus was placed on the consideration of income and asset wealth and its quantitative measurement.

In order to systematize the research projects already documented in the literature, a grid was developed for the main lines of research in the field of “wealth”. This was systematized on the basis of four lines of research and the research topics assigned to them:

• Research line F - Financial distribution aspects: Income and wealth
• Research line N - Non-financial aspects of distribution: Realization opportunities and life situations
• Research line I - Integration and segregation
• Research line P - Persistence and transmission

The report also contains an overview of the data available for empirical wealth research in Germany. The advantages and disadvantages with regard to the use of the various data bases for empirical wealth research are also derived. An overview of the relevant methods for measuring inequality and wealth is also provided. The advantages and disadvantages of the various approaches to measuring wealth are also discussed.

Research gaps were identified by comparing the research work found with the help of the literature search with the topics identified by the research lines. In addition, the research potential of the currently available data was taken into account when identifying research gaps. Finally, the German research literature was compared with studies from other European and North American countries.

Final report (in German)