FLORENCE, ITALY – Wealthiest families in Florence, Italy, manteined their riches for nearly 600 years, according to a study written by the Italian economists Guglielmo Barone and Sauro Mocetti, who compared census data from 1427 with figures from 2011 to track intergenerational mobility across the centuries.
According to the researchers, who published the study on Vox EU, the top earners among the current taxpayers (identified by surname) were found to have already been at the top of the socioeconomic ladder six centuries ago. This persistence is identified despite the huge political, demographic, and economic upheavals that occurred between the two dates.
The data corresponded to 800 surnames in 2011, representing 52,000 taxpayers. Societies characterised by a high transmission of socioeconomic status across generations are not only more likely to be perceived as unfair, they may also be less efficient as they waste the skills of those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, the study explains.
Existing evidence suggests that the related earnings advantages usually disappear after several generations, but in Florence the top earners among the current taxpayers were found to have already been at the top of the socioeconomic ladder six centuries ago.
Evidence of dynasties in certain professions (lawyers, bankers, medical doctor or pharmacist, goldsmiths) today is higher the more intensely the pseudo-ancestors were employed in the same professions, the study says. Researchers have not revealed the family names for confidentiality.
Discover more from Florence Daily News
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.