This paper examines some determinants of top income shares and the aggregate wealth-income ratio in the United States …. The paper, first, points out the difficulties in Piketty's neo-classical version of explanation of US income inequality …, which stresses the effect of the rising aggregate wealth-income ratio and high elasticity of factor substitution. Second …

"We document a large increase in the cyclicality of the incomes of high-income households, coinciding with the rise in … their share of aggregate income. In the U.S., since top income shares began to rise rapidly in the early 1980s, incomes of … those in the top 1 percent of the income distribution have averaged 14 times average income and been 2.4 times more cyclical …

We consider how much of the top end of the income distribution can be attributed to four sectors -- top executives of … represent a substantial portion of the top income groups, they miss a large number of high-earning individuals. We conclude by …

Business income constitutes a large and increasing share of income and wealth at the top of the distribution. We … the focus on closely-held and pass-through firms. These considerations influence whether and how labor and capital income …

Business income constitutes a large and increasing share of income and wealth at the top of the distribution. We … the focus on closely-held and pass-through firms. These considerations influence whether and how labor and capital income …