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Rent-Seekers, Profits, Wages and Inequality

The Top 20%

  • Focuses on the top earning 20% of society, rather than the top 1 or 0.1%

  • Addresses the role of rent in issues such as class reproduction, wealth, sources of social instability and inequality

  • Provides a “post-classical” narrative of political economy

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-vii
  2. Introduction

    • Péter Mihályi, Iván Szelényi
    Pages 1-23
  3. Rent in Classical Economic, Social, and Political Theory

    • Péter Mihályi, Iván Szelényi
    Pages 25-51
  4. Thirteen Types of Rent in the Globalized World

    • Péter Mihályi, Iván Szelényi
    Pages 53-72
  5. Class Reproduction of the Upper Middle Class (Top 20%)

    • Péter Mihályi, Iván Szelényi
    Pages 73-85
  6. Stages of Rent-Seeking Under Post-communism

    • Péter Mihályi, Iván Szelényi
    Pages 87-101
  7. Rent-Securing by the Nation-States and Rent Destruction by Globalization

    • Péter Mihályi, Iván Szelényi
    Pages 103-124
  8. Theoretical and Policy Conclusions

    • Péter Mihályi, Iván Szelényi
    Pages 125-137
  9. Back Matter

    Pages 139-156

About this book

Mihályi and Szelényi provide a timely contribution to contemporary debates about inequality of incomes and wealth, offering a careful examination of various sources of rent in contemporary societies, and considering several policy options to reduce inequality in order to preserve the meritocratic nature of liberal democracies.

While Rent-Seekers, Profits, Wages and Inequality acknowledges the rapid and disturbing increase of incomes and wealth in the top 1 or 0.1%, it focuses on the increasing rent component of incomes and wealth in the top 20% as even more consequential. The attention to cutting-edge issues on inequality in macroeconomics, political science and sociology will appeal to social scientists interested in income distribution and wealth accumulation.



Authors and Affiliations

  • Central European University, Budapest, Hungary

    Péter Mihályi

  • Yale University, New Haven, USA

    Iván Szelényi

About the authors

Péter Mihályi is Professor in the Department of Macroeconomics, Corvinus University of Budapest, and Visiting Professor at the Central European University, Hungary.

Iván Szelényi is William Graham Sumner Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Political Science, Yale University, and Max Weber Emeritus Professor of Social Sciences, New York University, Abu Dhabi. 



Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: Rent-Seekers, Profits, Wages and Inequality

  • Book Subtitle: The Top 20%

  • Authors: Péter Mihályi, Iván Szelényi

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03846-5

  • Publisher: Palgrave Pivot Cham

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG, part of Springer Nature 2019

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-030-03845-8Published: 10 January 2019

  • eBook ISBN: 978-3-030-03846-5Published: 29 December 2018

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: VII, 156

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations, 1 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Organizational Studies, Economic Sociology, Social Structure, Social Inequality, Social Policy, Economic Policy

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 49.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book USD 64.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access