Carbonnier, Clément

Housing Prices Impact on Inequalities and Inequality Measurement - 2015.


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The Book of Thomas Piketty, Capital in the xxist century, and following debates recalled the importance of housing capital and the variations of its valorization in measuring inequalities. I argue that market price overestimates housing stock value in time of bubble, but that conversely rents levels underestimate it. Overestimating the value of housing capital leads to an underestimation of wealth inequalities because it has a relatively greater impact on middle-class than on the upper end of the distribution. For the future, the distribution of types of capital and differences in returns can lead to an increase in income inequality.Classification JEL : D31 ; D63 ; R21.