Killewald Alexandra, Pfeffer Fabian T, Schachner Jared N
Harvard University.
University of Michigan.
Annu Rev Sociol. 2017 Jul;43:379-404. doi: 10.1146/annurev-soc-060116-053331. Epub 2017 May 10.
Research on wealth inequality and accumulation and the data upon which it relies have expanded substantially in the twenty-first century. While the field has experienced rapid growth, conceptual and methodological challenges remain. We begin by discussing two major unresolved methodological concerns facing wealth research: how to address challenges to causal inference posed by wealth's cumulative nature and how to operationalize net worth, given its highly skewed nature. To underscore the need for continued empirical attention to net worth, we review trends in wealth levels and inequality and evaluate wealth's distinctiveness as an indicator of social stratification. Next, we provide an overview of data sources available for wealth research. We then review recent empirical evidence on the effects of wealth on other social outcomes, as well as research on the determinants of wealth. We close with a list of promising avenues for future research on wealth, its causes, and its consequences.
21世纪以来，关于财富不平等与积累的研究以及其所依赖的数据有了大幅扩展。尽管该领域发展迅速，但概念和方法上的挑战依然存在。我们首先讨论财富研究面临的两个主要未解决的方法问题：如何应对财富累积性质对因果推断提出的挑战，以及鉴于其高度偏态的性质，如何对净值进行操作化。为强调对净值持续进行实证关注的必要性，我们回顾财富水平和不平等的趋势，并评估财富作为社会分层指标的独特性。接下来，我们概述可用于财富研究的数据来源。然后，我们回顾关于财富对其他社会结果影响的最新实证证据，以及关于财富决定因素的研究。最后，我们列出了关于财富、其成因及其后果的未来研究的一系列有前景的方向。
