Wealth inequality and household structure: US vs. Spain

We study the link between family demographics and wealth distribution in interna-tional comparisons using household data for the US and Spain (the SCF and the EFF). We estimate counterfactual US distributions relying on the Spanish household struc-ture. Our results show that di¤erences in household demographics account for most of the di¤erences in the lower part of the distribution between the two countries, but mask even larger di¤erences in the upper part of the distribution. We report some evidence of an association between these wealth distribution di¤erences and wealth composition. We also present results for the within-group di¤erences between the two countries using quantile regressions and \u85nd a reversing pattern by age. Finally, we discuss potential problems of using concentration measures in international comparisons. JEL Classi\u85cation: D31