Replication Data for: The super-rich in global perspective: a quantitative analysis of the Forbes list of billionaires, Applied Economics Letters, 11 (13), 2004, pp. 793-796

Why are there more super-rich people in some countries than in others? Extraordinary wealth is often regarded with envy and might raise the suspicion that it can only be accumulated with the help of a minimalist state that does not concern itself with the plight of the many. This raises the issue whether a high number of billionaires can co-exist with a high-taxing, interventionist, social and welfare spending government? These two questions are at the heart of this paper’s analysis. To answer them a quantitative analysis of the global Forbes list of billionaires is undertaken.

为何部分国家的超级富豪人数多于其他国家？巨额财富往往招致非议与嫉妒，亦可能引发质疑：认为此类财富仅能依托不关注普罗大众疾苦的极简主义政府完成积累。这便引出核心议题：大量亿万富豪群体，能否与高税收、干预型且加大社会与福利支出的政府共存？上述两个问题正是本研究分析的核心落脚点。为解答上述疑问，本研究针对全球福布斯（Forbes）亿万富豪榜开展了量化分析。