Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Reposted by Roberto Iacono

Marco Ranaldi @marcoranaldi.bsky.social · 1d

Pleased to see our new paper finally out!

Together with joël bühler and Roberto Iacono, we study income mobility dynamics in Norway using 26 years of high-quality register data.

Main result: upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income — and almost never by capital alone. (1/4)

World Inequality Lab @wid.world · 1d

Do individuals move ⤴️ or⤵️ the income ladder because of jumps in labor or capital income, or both?

👉Upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income but almost never by capital alone, find @marcoranaldi.bsky.social @joelliambuehler.bsky.social @robertoiacono.org

▶️ wid.world/news-article...

Upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income but almost never by capital alone - WID - World Inequality Database

Upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income but almost never by capital alone This paper studies the dynamics of capital and labor income mobility using high-quality register data from Norway.

wid.world

1 3 16

Reposted by Roberto Iacono

Joël Bühler @joelliambuehler.bsky.social · 1d

Ever wondered whether capital or labor income makes individuals move up the income ladder? So did my fantastic co-authors @marcoranaldi.bsky.social and @robertoiacono.org and I!

Short answer: It's mostly LABOR income! 1/2

World Inequality Lab @wid.world · 1d

Do individuals move ⤴️ or⤵️ the income ladder because of jumps in labor or capital income, or both?

👉Upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income but almost never by capital alone, find @marcoranaldi.bsky.social @joelliambuehler.bsky.social @robertoiacono.org

▶️ wid.world/news-article...

Upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income but almost never by capital alone - WID - World Inequality Database

Upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income but almost never by capital alone This paper studies the dynamics of capital and labor income mobility using high-quality register data from Norway.

wid.world

1 3 9

Reposted by Roberto Iacono

World Inequality Lab @wid.world · 1d

Do individuals move ⤴️ or⤵️ the income ladder because of jumps in labor or capital income, or both?

👉Upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income but almost never by capital alone, find @marcoranaldi.bsky.social @joelliambuehler.bsky.social @robertoiacono.org

▶️ wid.world/news-article...

Upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income but almost never by capital alone - WID - World Inequality Database

Upward mobility is primarily driven by labor income but almost never by capital alone This paper studies the dynamics of capital and labor income mobility using high-quality register data from Norway.

wid.world

6 23

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · 6d

Are you a PhD/Postdoc young scholar in search of opportunities abroad?

Time to apply for the new call of the Visiting researcher positions with access to admin data @ NTNU in Trondheim.

Deadline: 30.11.2025. Details: shorturl.at/Fdw9A

Friends & colleagues: pls share with your best candidates.

1

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · 7d

Time to celebrate! 🎉

The WelGain project (Tangible welfare costs & hidden welfare gains: unveiling the counterfactual in the evaluation of social programs) has received funding by the RCN, approx. 11.97M NOK (1M EUR).

I look forward to serve as PI of an amazing team of colleagues @NTNU and abroad!

6

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · 12d

It is finally online the SI of the EER that we guest-edited together with @pgpiacquadio.bsky.social, @danielwaldenstrom.bsky.social, and Jakob Madsen. The full list of papers is available here: www.sciencedirect.com/special-issu...

European Economic Review | Capital vs. Labor: Perspectives on Inequality in the 21st Century | ScienceDirect.com by Elsevier

This special issue addresses the complex dynamics between capital and labor in economic inequality and redistribution. It navigates the tension between concentrating capital in the top income distribu...

www.sciencedirect.com

2 2

Reposted by Roberto Iacono

European University Institute @eui-eu.bsky.social · Jul 23

👴👵 Noa De La Vega, Max Weber Fellow at @eui-eco.bsky.social, sheds light on how sudden major health changes in the elderly impact their adult children’s employment, revealing that sons and daughters are affected differently.

Read more 👉 https://loom.ly/1gb8nfc

3 6

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · 23d

We are delighted to publish this paper by @thomaspiketty.bsky.social in a forthcoming Special Issue of the Journal of Income Distribution jid.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jid/

World Inequality Lab @wid.world · Sep 9

On the 10th anniversary of *Capital in the 21st Century* and 5th of *Capital and Ideology*, @thomaspiketty.bsky.social shared key lessons from his work + insights on global inequality transformations, emphasizing reasons for optimism👇
wid.world/news-article...

Capital in the 21st Century, Ten Years Later - WID - World Inequality Database

Capital in the 21st Century, Ten Years Later The source for global inequality data. Open access, high quality wealth and income inequality data developed by an international academic consortium.

wid.world

3

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · 23d

An exciting year has just begun! Sabbatical in Pisa & Florence for the whole academic year 2025/2026. Let me know if you are in the area!

2

Reposted by Roberto Iacono

World Inequality Lab @wid.world · 24d

🔴 🌐First global database of wealth accumulation covering 1800–2025 now available 👇
wid.world/news-article...
@cmtneztt.bsky.social @thomaspiketty.bsky.social @alisodano.bsky.social @anmol-smnch.bsky.social @jonasdietrich.bsky.social @gatonievas.bsky.social

First global database of wealth accumulation covering 1800–2025 now available - WID - World Inequality Database

First global database of wealth accumulation covering 1800–2025 now available The source for global inequality data. Open access, high quality wealth and income inequality data developed by an interna...

wid.world

1 10 22

Reposted by Roberto Iacono

NBER @nber.org · Sep 2

Matching the Forbes 400 to tax data finds that they pay a total tax rate of 24 percent of economic income, lower than the 30 percent tax rate paid on average in the US, from Akcan S. Balkir, Emmanuel Saez, Danny Yagan, and Gabriel Zucman https://www.nber.org/papers/w34170

58 110

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jul 27

Curious to know what @brankomilan.bsky.social & @marcoranaldi.bsky.social think of our interpretation for the Nordics... in any case, it is in my view paramount to see more studies focusing on inequality in income composition! @elisapalagi.bsky.social

1

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jul 27

Section 4.1 focuses on DIT: "it emerges that the dual income tax (DIT) reforms in the Nordic countries in the early 1990s contributed to important shifts in the concentration of capital incomes across the income distribution and hence to rapid changes in the degree of income composition inequality".

1

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jul 27

"We show that income composition ineq has not always been high in the Nordics, and that current high levels of heterogeneity in factor income shares in Ranaldi & Milanovic (2021) are associated to recent taxation reforms." doi.org/10.1515/beje... (3/n)

1

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jul 27

"We show that, for all Nordic countries, a shift in capital incomes toward the top since the early 1990s causes rising heterogeneity in individuals’ factor income shares. To explain this result, we highlight the role of dual taxation systems." doi.org/10.1515/beje... (2/n)

1

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jul 27

Great post by @brankomilan.bsky.social on Compositional vs. Income Ineq, highlighting @marcoranaldi.bsky.social's role in developing this novel concept. Regarding the high CI in the Nordics, @elisapalagi.bsky.social & I in our BEJEAP paper (doi.org/10.1515/beje...) have another interpretation..(1/n)

1 1 6

Reposted by Roberto Iacono

Marco Ranaldi @marcoranaldi.bsky.social · Jul 27

Just read @brankomilan.bsky.social's latest on income & compositional inequality. One more point: if AI pushes up the capital share by replacing jobs across skill levels, reducing compositional inequality can help capital complement labor—and prevent income inequality from rising👇

Branko Milanovic @brankomilan.bsky.social · Jul 26

New Capitalism II:
Compositional vs income inequality
Are all class-based societies unequal?
branko2f7.substack.com/p/new-capita...

New Capitalism II: Compositional vs income inequality

Are all class-based societies unequal?

branko2f7.substack.com

3 3

Reposted by Roberto Iacono

Yajna Govind @yajnagovind.bsky.social · Jul 17

Happy to have this out (joint with @paolosantini.bsky.social & Ellora Derenoncourt). Stay tuned for more!

NBER @nber.org · Jul 16

Substantial earnings penalties exist for racial minorities in France. Compared to the US, lower overall inequality benefits French racial minorities, but rank gaps are comparable, from Yajna Govind, Paolo Santini, and Ellora Derenoncourt https://www.nber.org/papers/w34013

7 22

Reposted by Roberto Iacono

Gabriel Zucman @gabrielzucman.bsky.social · Jul 5

July 4th, 2025

9 120 310

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jun 30

For all those who have attended and hopefully enjoyed LISIT2023 and LISIT2025, help us to spread the word of this amazing symposium, hoping that we can finance future editions!

www.robertoiacono.org/events/

#LISIT2025

2

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jun 30

In conclusion, once again a big thanks to the financing institutions Roma Tre University, Skatteforsk at NMBU and Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, and to the committee of organisers with @elisapalagi.bsky.social @morellisal.bsky.social F Lamperti and @andokl.bsky.social.

1

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jun 30

Finally, social activity led by @andokl.bsky.social with a hike to Djevelporten close to the city centre of Svolvær.

1

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jun 30

The final session on Political Economy was chaired by @andokl.bsky.social, w/ talks by @alvarozc.bsky.social (Income Shocks, Economic Inequality & Political Realignment), @evadavoine.bsky.social (Political costs of taxation), & @yonatanberman.com (Tax Reform, Housing Affordability, and Inequality).

1 2

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jun 30

The day continued with a session on Inheritance chaired by @robertoiacono.org and that included presentations by @izmartinez86.bsky.social (earnings responses to sudden wealth), @bluebery-planterose.com (Inheritance and Inequality), and @severinrapp.bsky.social (Leaving legacies and liabilities).

1 2

Roberto Iacono @robertoiacono.org · Jun 30

Day 2 started with a session on multiple dimensions of Inequality chaired by @elisapalagi.bsky.social, and included presentations by @lwallossek.bsky.social (Marriage earnings gap), D Guzzardi (Income-Wealth-Emissions triangle), and J Feinmann (Payments under the table).

1