Inequality and Public Pension Entitlements

Abstract

The literature on wealth inequality is expanding very fast. Wealth is usually more concentrated than income. However, traditional measures of wealth inequality are based only on private wealth, and thus exclude public pension entitlements. In this chapter, the literature on the impact of public pension entitlements on wealth inequality is discussed. Empirical research shows, that wealth inequality is significantly reduced after accounting for public pension wealth. The value of Gini index is usually reduced by 20 -40%.