as inequalities continue to rise, and social discontent with the established political and economic order becomes more widespread, it has never been more important to further our evidence-based work on wealth inequalities and how they affect our societies.

1. WEALTH INEQUALITY AND
INCLUSIVE GROWTH
Gabriela Ramos,
OECD Chief of Staff, Sherpa to the G20 and Head of the
Inclusive Growth Initiative
OECD Conference on wealth inequalities: Measurement and
Policies
Paris, 26 April 2018

2. What’s the issue?
 The top earners are pulling away from the rest
2
Source: OECD (2018 forthcoming), The Framework for Policy Action on Inclusive Growth.
100
110
120
130
140
150
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
Wages of top 1% of income earners diverged
from the average and the median
(OECD average, 1995-2012)
Top 1% earners
Average
Median
100
110
120
130
140
150
1995
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
Wages decoupled from labour productivity
(OECD average, 1995-2013)
Labour productivity
Median (real
compensation)
Average (real
compensation)

3. • Building on multi-disciplinary OECD expertise:
– Bridging the Gap (Report 2017)
– A Fiscal Approach for Inclusive Growth in G7 Countries
(Report 2017)
– The Productivity-Inclusiveness Nexus (Report 2016)
– Established a Coalition of Champion Mayors for Inclusive
Growth
– Contributed to policy recommendations of multi-lateral
fora (G7, G20, APEC)
– Influenced governments’ IG strategies (Canada, Scotland,
Italy)
3
The OECD Inclusive Growth (IG) Initiative

4. Wealth inequalities are even more pronounced than income
4
Source: OECD Wealth Distribution Database, http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=WEALTH and OECD Income
Distribution Database (www.oecd.org/social/incomedistribution-database.htm
Share of top 10% of household disposable income and top 10%
of household net wealth
2012 or latest available year, values in 2011 USD

5. Wealth inequalities are even more pronounced than income
5
Source: OECD Wealth Distribution Database, http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=WEALTH.
Wealth composition of richest 20% of households
2014 or latest available year, values in 2011 USD

6. Financialisation is a key driver of wealth inequality
6
Source: OECD Wealth Distribution Database, http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=WEALTH.
Shares of financial and non-financial assets for households
belonging to different quintiles of the wealth distribution
2014 or latest available year, values in 2011 USD

7. 7
Household wealth inequality and percentage of household owning home outright
2014 or latest available year
There is a strong relationship between home ownership
and wealth inequality
Source: OECD Wealth Distribution Database, http://stats.oecd.org/Index.aspx?DataSetCode=WEALTH.
OECD Affordable Housing Database, http://www.oecd.org/social/affordable-housing-database.htm.

8. 8
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
Rent (private and subsidized) Owner with mortgage
Households' housing cost burden (median mortgage and rent cost)
(% of disposable income, 2014 or latest)
Source: OECD (2018 forthcoming), The Framework for Policy Action on Inclusive Growth.
And the access to affordable housing more generally
remains a concern for inclusive growth

9. What can we do?
 The Framework for Policy Action on Inclusive Growth: key dynamics and
policies
9
1. Share the gains of growth
• Fair distribution of opportunities and outcomes
2. Enable strong, inclusive markets
• Promoting jobs mobility and opportunities of good jobs for all
• Boosting productivity growth and business dynamism, while
ensuring adaptation and diffusion of technologies
• Establishing a low-carbon and resource-efficient economy that
generates good jobs for all
3. Establish equal opportunities for all
• Promoting life-long learning and skills
• Increasing social mobility
• Improving material and non-material well-being
• Promoting regional catching up
4. Re-build trust in government
• Embedding inclusiveness in policy-making
• Screening policies for inclusiveness and accountability

10. Inclusive Growth Framework (Pillar 1)
 Shifting the tax mix to foster inclusive growth
Source: OECD Revenue Statistics, 2017
27.3%
24.3%
17.6%
26.7%
38.4%
32.8%
8.8% 8.5%
7.9%
5.6%
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
45%
1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015
TaxrevenueasashareoftotaltaxinOECDcountries
Personal income taxes Social security contributions Taxes on goods and services
Corporate income taxes Property taxes
Changes in the tax mix in OECD countries

11. Inclusive Growth Framework (Pillar 1)
 There is lots of scope to increase property taxes
Source: OECD Revenue Statistics, 2017
Evolution of property tax revenues as a share of total taxation – OECD average since 1965
0%
1%
2%
3%
4%
5%
6%
7%
8%
9%
1965 1975 1985 1995 2005 2015
Taxrevenueasashareoftotaltaxrevenue Total Recurrent taxes on net wealth
Recurrent taxes on immovable property Estate, inheritance and gift taxes
Taxes on financial and capital transactions

12. Next steps
12
Finalising the Framework for Action for the OECD
Ministerial Council Meeting in May
- Need to continue to develop the evidence base and data
underpinning inclusive growth, including further research
into policy drivers of wealth inequality
Applying the IG framework across the OECD and in
countries

13. Thank you!
13
Gabriela Ramos
OECD Chief of Staff and Sherpa to the G20
Contact: Gabriela.ramos@oecd.org
Follow me @gabramosp
For more details on the OECD and the Inclusive Growth
Initiative, see
http://www.oecd.org/inclusive-growth/