Wealth distribution in Switzerland and Germany: Evidence from Survey Data

过去几年，无论是在社会科学研究领域还是在广大公众中，财富分配问题都受到了越来越多的关注。除了财富不平等的问题外，财富是现代社会的一项关键资源，也是经济和主观幸福感(SWB)的核心维度。然而，基于调查和微观数据的研究严重缺乏，尤其是在瑞士，迄今为止，对财富的研究几乎完全依赖于税务记录。瑞士提供了新的调查数据，包括财富信息(特别是CH-SILC、瑞士家庭调查小组(SHP)、CH-SHARE)，这为深入分析和评估不同调查数据的质量和限度提供了机会。这个D-A-CH项目的中心目标是(1)评估财富调查数据的质量，(2)记录应享养恤金的相关性，(3)研究移民和生活事件对财富和财富流动性的影响，以及(4)分析财富对SWB的影响。采用比较的方法，我们把重点放在德国和瑞士。更准确地说，拟议的项目由四个研究轴组成：轴1处理比较瑞士不同调查的财富数据的质量。剩下的轴心比较了德国和瑞士。轴2评估养老金应得权益对财富分配的影响，轴3调查生活事件和迁移对财富分配和财富流动的作用，轴4考察不同财富构成对主观幸福感维度的影响。比较分析将主要依靠德国社会经济小组研究(SOEP)、SHP和CH-SILC的数据。德国团队将领导Axis 2，瑞士团队将领导Axis 1和4，而Axis 3将密切合作。对拟议的D-A-CH项目的研究在四个方面具有原创性：第一，该项目为财富问题提出了一个新颖的比较视角。德国和瑞士有许多相似之处(房主比例较低，经济发展)，这有助于研究关键差异(移民、税收制度)的影响。其次，该项目比较了瑞士不同的财富调查，评估了它们的有效性、可靠性和一致性。第三，该项目将提供经验证据，在多大程度上可以将瑞士和德国高度不平等的财富分配归因于之前研究中对养老金应得权利的忽视。第四，拥有两国纵向面板数据的机会提供了有趣的机会，特别是研究财富流动性、生活事件的影响以及更好地处理因果关系和内生性。这个D-A-CH-项目通过结合两个团队的能力和知识带来了协同效应。综上所述，它将有助于更准确地衡量富裕国家的财富，并有助于更好地了解财富的分布和动态。

The issue of wealth distribution has received increasing attention over the past years, both within social sciences research and the broader public. Besides the issue of wealth inequality, wealth is a key resource in modern societies and a central dimension of economic and subjective well-being (SWB). There is however a stricking lack of research based on survey and micro data, particularly in Switzerland, where research on wealth relied so far almost uniquely on tax records. The new availability of survey data in Switzerland including wealth information (notably CH-SILC, Swiss Household Panel (SHP), CH-SHARE) provides the opportunity for an in-depth analysis and for assessing the quality and the limits of the different survey data. The central aims of this D-A-CH project are (1) to assess the quality of survey data on wealth, (2) to document the relevance of pension entitlements, (3) to study the impact of migration and life events on wealth and wealth mobility, and (4) to analyse the impact of wealth on SWB. Adopting a comparative approach, we focus on Germany and Switzerland. More precisely, the proposed project consists of four research axes: Axis 1 deals with the quality of wealth data comparing different surveys in Switzerland. The remaining axes compare Germany and Switzerland. Axis 2 assesses the impact of pension entitlements on the wealth distribution, the third axis investigates the role of life-events and migration on distribution of wealth and on wealth mobility, whereas the axis 4 examines the impact of different wealth components on the dimensions of SWB. Comparative analyses will mostly rely on data from the German Socio-Economic Panel study (SOEP), SHP and CH-SILC. The German team will take the lead for Axis 2, the Swiss team for Axes 1 and 4, while Axis 3 will be carried out in close cooperation. The research of the proposed D-A-CH project is original in four respects: First, this project proposes a novel comparative perspective for wealh issues. Germany and Switzerland have many similarities (low share of house owners, economic evolution) which facilitates studying the impact of key differences (migration, tax scheme). Second, this project compares different Swiss surveys on wealth evaluating their validity, reliability and consistency. Third, the project will provide empirical evidence to what extent the highely unequal wealth distribution in Switzerland and Germany can be attributed to the ignorance of pension entitlements in previous research. Fourth, the chance to have longitudinal panel data in both countries offers interesting opportunities, in particular to study wealth mobility, the effect of life events and a better treatment of causaility and endogeneity.This D-A-CH-project brings synergies by combining competences and knowledge of the two teams. Summing up, it will contribute to a more precise measurement of wealth in rich countries and to a better understanding of the distribution and dynamics of wealth.