Testing Marx

Charlotte Bartels, Felix Kersting and Nikolaus Wolf
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Felix Kersting: HU Berlin

No 374, Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series from CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition

Abstract: We study the dynamics of capital accumulation, income inequality, capital concentration, and voting up to 1914. Based on new panel data for Prussian regions, we re-evaluate the famous Revisionism Debate between orthodox Marxists and their critics. We show that changes in capital accumulation led to a rise in the capital share and income inequality, as predicted by orthodox Marxists. But against their predictions, this did neither lead to further capital concentration nor to more votes for the socialists. Instead, trade unions and strike activity limited income inequality and fostered political support for socialism, as argued by the Revisionists.

Keywords: income inequality; concentration; top incomes; capital share; capital accumulation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D31 D63 J31 N30 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023-01-24
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