Where have (almost) all the wealthy gone ? Spatial decomposition of wealth trends in France, 1820-1939

This paper examines the evolution of wealth distribution in France during the urbanization process of the nineteenth century, based on a comprehensive dataset of individual inheritances. It presents a spatial decomposition between rural and urban areas, distinguishing Paris from the rest of other cities. Two types of decomposition are compared: a decomposition based on scalar inequality indices and a non-parametric approach based on wealth density functions. Changes in the level of wealth explained most of the spatial evolution of wealth during 1820-1939; at the turn of the century however, the effect of urbanization on wealth distribution increased gradually.