Why the rich become richer: insights from an agent-based model

摘要

The aim of this paper is to investigate the reason why the rich get richer in an agent-based macroeconomic model. It shows that simulated top income and wealth follows a power law. From a dynamical point of view, it is found that revenues from financial investments are the key factor to sustaining wealth accumulation. In other words, wealth-dependent asymmetries among agents generates the power law tail.