This makes me wonder which "stable" country currently has the least amount of generational wealth.
I would assume China, due to the Cultural Revolution. From what I recall, all of their billionaires are currently first generation. But we will see as time goes on.
Or maybe South Korea since they were were colonized for a long time and suffered through a recentish, direct war.
Thanks for the article! This is fascinating and I will look into their paper more, but on a quick glance, I wonder about their methodology here:
> The authors identified 13 surnames that appear with unusual frequency in the Qin examination system—the Chinese test to identify who will become a member of the highest elite in the country, the state bureaucracy. They selected them from more than 50,000 successful candidates (the most successful) in the Yuan, Ming, and Qin dynasties, starting in 221 BCE (we are talking China). These surnames are overrepresented in the modern imperial era and in modern Chinese elites—the high officials in the Nationalist government from 1912 to the triumph of the communists in 1949; professors at the ten most prestigious universities in the country in 2012; chairs of the boards of companies listed in 2006 as having assets of $1.5 million and above; and members of the (still communist) central government administration in 2010.
It is my understanding that while the Chinese do have a variety of surnames, they are often based on region. Not to mention, the 3 surnames "Wang, Li, and Zhang" are attributed to almost 30% of Chinese people.
Israel is a strong candidate given that the country didn't exist before 1948. Essentially the country was reset to zero as all Arab wealth was confiscated and nationalized during the formative years in the 1950's.
I would assume China, due to the Cultural Revolution. From what I recall, all of their billionaires are currently first generation. But we will see as time goes on.
Or maybe South Korea since they were were colonized for a long time and suffered through a recentish, direct war.