Personal Wealth from a Global Perspective

There is great media fascination in the activities and lifestyles of the super-rich. But personal wealth is also important for those of more modest means as a store of potential consumption, as a cushion against emergencies, and as collateral for business and investment loans. This book is the first global study of household assets and debts. It documents not only the level, distribution, and trend of wealth holdings in rich nations, but also addresses developing countries like China and India. The situation in Latin America and Africa is given attention along with the experiences of Russia and other transition countries. Components of household wealth like financial assets, land, and property are examined, as well as the gender division. Worldwide, it is estimated that the richest 2% own more than half of total global wealth, and that this elite group resides almost exclusively in North America, Western Europe, and rich Asia-Pacific countries.

1. An Overview of Personal Wealth; PART I: THE RICH AND THE SUPER-RICH; 2. Survey Estimates of Wealth Holdings in OECD Countries: Evidence on the Level and Distribution across Selected Countries; 3. Long-Run Changes in the Concentration of Wealth: An Overview of Recent Findings; 4. Concentration among the Rich; PART II: WEALTH HOLDINGS IN THE DEVELOPING WORLD AND TRANSITION COUNTRIES; 5. Changes in the Distribution of Wealth in China, 1995-2002; 6. The Distribution of Household Wealth in India; 7. The Evolution of Personal Wealth in the Former Soviet Union and Central and Eastern Europe; 8. Household Wealth in Latin America; 9. Land Reform and Land Holdings in Brazil; 10. Estimating the Balance Sheet of the Personal Sector in an Emerging Market Country: South Africa, 1975-2003; 11. Asset Portfolios in Africa: Evidence from Rural Ethiopia; 12. Marketable Wealth in a Poor African Country: Using an Index of Consumer Durables to Investigate Wealth Accumulation by Households in Ghana; PART III: THE ROLE OF PERSONAL ASSETS IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND PERFORMANCE; 13. Household Financial Assets in the Process of Development; 14. Housing and Personal Wealth in a Global Context; 15. Housing Privatization and Household Wealth in Transition; 16. Land Titles, Credit Markets, and Wealth Distribution; 17. Gender and the Distribution of Wealth in Developing Countries; 18. The Informal Sector in Developing Countries: Output, Assets, and Employment; PART IV: WHO OWNS THE WORLD?; 19. The World Distribution of Household Wealth

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