Death, Deeds, and Descendents by Remi Clignet Jens Beckert Brooke Harrington

Author:Remi Clignet, Jens Beckert, Brooke Harrington [Remi Clignet, Jens Beckert, Brooke Harrington]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Sociology, General, Death & Dying, Social Classes & Economic Disparity
ISBN: 9781351523431
Google: jvdKDwAAQBAJ
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Goodreads: 38505809
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 1992-12-31T00:00:00+00:00

The Composition of the Estate: An Overall Picture

The distribution of wealth involves two measures. While it is necessary to evaluate the relative popularity of differing types of assets among the various segments of the population, it is also necessary to evaluate the relative value that these assets represent in relation to that of overall individual estates.

The popularity of certain types of assets (notably bonds, investments in productive forms of capital, deposits, or real estate) did not change drastically between the two years of reference (Table 4.1). They attracted the same number of wealth holders. In contrast, the sharp increase in the number of participants in the stock market was paralleled by an even more dramatic decline in the relative salience of mortgages and prom- issory notes. These changes reflect the growth of anonymous impersonal capitalist structures during the entire period. Meanwhile, the spectacular diffusion of life insurance policies during the period raises an important question as to the strategies of insurance companies. To the extent that the samples used here represent the lower end of the wealth continuum, does the increase in the number of life insurance policy holders suggest that, as an innovation, this type of investment trickled down from richer individuals who adopted it at an earlier date? Does this evolution reflect a democratization of the market and hence an increase in the number of policy holders? Or rather, is it a shift in the tastes of distinct segments of the population?

Table 4.1.Composition of the Estates of Decedents in 1920 and 1944

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