Distributional National Accounts for Wealth: Measurement Issues and First Results for Austria, Germany, France and Spain

Analysing, assessing and comparing economies is usually done by means of macroeconomic aggregates or indicators derived therefrom, such as total income, total consumption, or total wealth. Although these indicators provide useful information about the economy as a whole, they can say nothing about the
distribution of income, consumption and wealth among the population. However, whether, for instance, the total wealth of a nation is owned by a few extremely ealthy households, or whether it is held by many households each contributing a similar share of the total, makes a big difference (...)