Wealth-Holders at the Top (WATT) - An Interdisciplinary Research Network

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Carsten Schröder
• Subject Area: Economic Policy, Applied Economics ; Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2019 to 2024
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 430972113

High-worth individuals are typically underrepresented or completely missing in population surveys. The lack of a register-based sampling frame on high-worth individuals in many countries challenged previous attempts to sample high-worth individuals in voluntary scientific surveys. We developed, implemented and successfully tested a novel sampling design to survey households from the top of the wealth distribution. Based on a new large-scale sample (2.000 households) of the Socio-Economic Panel, our aim is to address four most pressing issues:(1) Describing the top tail of the wealth distribution: How much wealth do top wealthholders have? Does the wealth distribution follow a “natural” (Pareto) law? How much dotop wealth holders contribute to overall inequality in a society? What is the compositionof their wealth portfolios?(2) Identifying the socio-demographic and psychological characteristics of top wealthholders: Who are the top wealth holders, and how do they differ from the rest of thepopulation?(3) Understanding the life cycles of top wealth holders: How do the “rich” get rich? Whatare the critical stages in the life cycles of top wealth holders? What role do individualcareer paths, partnership choices, inheritances, social networks, and personality traitsplay in the accumulation of wealth?(4) Examining the social engagement and political behavior of top wealth holders:What role do top wealth holders play as philanthropists, why do they donate, and whatcauses do they donate to? What policies can increase their social involvement? How arethey involved in political decision-making processes, and at what political levels? Whatare their political preferences, for instance, with regard to taxation and redistribution?

• DFG Programme: Scientific Networks
• Co-Investigator: Professor Dr. Philipp Lersch