Key details
Rafael Wildauer
Associate Professor in Economics
Prior to joining the department of International Business and Economics at the University of Greenwich Rafael Wildauer worked as a Lecturer in Business Economics at Kingston University Business School. He holds a PhD in Economics from Kingston University (supervisor: Prof. Engelbert Stockhammer) and completed Bachelors and Masters degrees in Economics at the University of Vienna.
Rafael Wildauer is Deputy Director of the University's Institute of Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability (PEGFA), where his research focuses on four areas: First, statistical models of the distribution of household wealth in order to address underreporting problems in household survey data, post data collection; second the drivers of the indebtedness of the household sector with a particular interest in the role played by shifts in the distribution of income and wealth; third, the transition to a zero carbon economy, the required policies and the challenges involved in decoupling economic growth and emissions; fourth, Post Keynesian and Neo Kaleckian models of economic growth.
Awards
- Fully funded PhD scholarship at Kingston University (supervisor Prof Engelbert Stockhammer)
- MSc Economics graduation with distinction
Recognition
- Elected member of the committee of the Post Keynesian Economics Society (PKES)
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Reviewer for:
- Journal of Post Keynesian Economics
- European Journal of Economics and Economic Policies
- International Journal of Consumer Studies
- International Journal of Social Welfare
- Journal of Globalization and Development
Research / Scholarly interests
Rafael's work is focussed on the distribution of income and wealth. One particular aspect of his research is on addressing the problem of underreporting of income and assets by affluent households in surveys by means of statistical models of the tail of the income or wealth distribution. These post-data collection adjustments are crucial when the goal is to obtain a realistic picture of the tail of the distribution and the total volume of income or wealth in the population and thus is crucial for assessing the distribution or policies such as taxation. Other areas of interest include, private sector indebtedness, the transition to zero carbon economies and Post Keynesian and Neo Kaleckian growth models.
Key funded projects
- A fiscally sustainable public investment initiative in Europe to prevent climate collapse (01/2020 – 04/2021, funded by FEPS, AK and RI): This research project pursues two goals. The first is to assess whether the planned measures laid out in the European Green Deal are sufficient to meet the "well below 1.5 °C target". The second goal is to assess the fiscal feasibility of a public investment initiative dedicated to providing the necessary infrastructure and technology upgrading to achieve the Paris targets with greater probability.
- Private Wealth in Austria (01/2020 – 10/2020, funded by AK): The project aims to use the third wave of data from the ECB's Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) to study the current distribution of household wealth in Europe and its evolution over the past three years.
- Wealth concentration, Taxation, Tax Evasion and Tax Avoidance in Austria (08/2017 – 08/2018, funded by AK): In the first part the issue of how to accurately measure the concentration of wealth from survey data is analysed and Austria is used as an explementary case study. Using the second wave of the European Central Bank's Household Finance and Consumption Survey (HFCS) the project estimates the top tail of the wealth distribution based on a statistical model which assumes the wealth distribution can be described by a power law. The results are then used to estimate the revenues of different wealth taxation proposals (see outputs here and here and here). See further outputs here and here.
Research impact beyond academia:
- The European Commission Staff Country Report on Austria cites Ferschli et al. (2017) in their discussion of reform of the taxation scheme and the revenue potential of wealth taxes.
- The 'Sozialbericht 2017' of the Austrian Federal Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Consumer Protection and the Austrian Central Bank cite Eckerstorfer et al. 2016 when calling for increased use of administrative data to improve survey quality.
Recent publications
Article
Wildauer, Rafael , Kohler, Karsten, Aboobaker, Adam, Guschanski, Alexander (2023), Energy price shocks, conflict inflation, and income distribution in a three-sector model. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, London Energy Economics, 127: 106982 (PART B) . pp. 1-19 ISSN: 0140-9883 (Print), 1873-6181 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2023.106982).
Kapeller, Jakob , Leitch, Stuart, Wildauer, Rafael (2023), Can a European wealth tax close the green investment gap?. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Ecological Economics, 209: 107849 ISSN: 0921-8009 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2023.107849).
Tippet, Benjamin , Onaran, Özlem, Wildauer, Rafael (2022), The effect of labour's bargaining power on wealth inequality in the UK, the USA, and France. Wiley. In: , , , . Wiley, The Review of Income and Wealth ISSN: 0034-6586 (Print), 1475-4991 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12626).
Wildauer, Rafael and , Kapeller, Jakob (2022), Tracing the invisible rich: a new approach to modelling Pareto tails in survey data. Elsevier. In: , , , . Elsevier, Labour Economics, 75: 102145 ISSN: 0927-5371 (Print), (doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.labeco.2022.102145).
Wildauer, Rafael and , Kapeller, Jakob (2021), Fitting Pareto tails to wealth survey data: a practioners’ guide. Ad Libros Publications Inc.. In: , , , . Ad Libros Publications Inc., Journal of Income Distribution ISSN: 0926-6437 (Print), 1874-6322 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.25071/1874-6322.40447) NB Item availability restricted.
Wildauer, Rafael and , Stockhammer, Engelbert (2018), Expenditure cascades, low interest Rates, credit deregulation or property booms? Determinants of household debt in OECD countries. Now Publishers. In: , , , . Now Publishers, Review of Behavioral Economics, 5 (2) . pp. 85-121 ISSN: 2326-6198 (Print), 2326-6201 (Online) (doi: https://doi.org/10.1561/105.00000083).
López Bernardo, Javier and , Wildauer, Rafael (2018), A Keynesian contribution to the theory of equity yields. In: , , , . , Aestimatio: The IEB International Journal of Finance (16) . pp. 90-123 ISSN: 2173-0164 (Print), (doi: https://www.ieb.es/ww2017/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/AE16-90-123.-LOPEZ-BERNARDO.pdf).
Ferschli, Benjamin , Kapeller, Jakob, Schütz, Bernhard, Wildauer, Rafael (2018), Wie viel bringt eine Vermögenssteuer? Neue Aufkommensschätzungen für Österreich. In: , , , . , Wirtschafts- und Sozialpolitische Zeitschrift, 40 (1) . pp. 146-160 (doi: ).
Ferschli, Benjamin , Kapeller, Jakob, Schütz, Bernhard, Wildauer, Rafael (2017), Bestände und Konzentration Privater Vermögen in Österreich. Johannes Kepler, Universitat Linz. In: , , , . Johannes Kepler, Universitat Linz, Materialien zu Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft (167) (doi: ).
Working paper
Tippet, Benjamin , Onaran, Özlem, Wildauer, Rafael (2024), The case for a progressive annual wealth tax in the UK updated. PEGFA: Institute of Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability. In: , , , . PEGFA: Institute of Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability, London (doi: ).
Tippet, Benjamin and , Wildauer, Rafael (2024), The good life at the top continued: analysing the Sunday Times Rich List 1989-2024. PEGFA: Institute of Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability. In: , , , . PEGFA: Institute of Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability, London (1st) (doi: ).
Tippet, Benjamin and , Wildauer, Rafael (2023), The good life at the top: analysing The Sunday Times Rich List 1989-2023. PEGFA: Institute of Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability. In: , , , . PEGFA: Institute of Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability, London (doi: ).
Wildauer, Rafael , Heck, Ines, Kapeller, Jakob (2023), Was Pareto right? Is the distribution of wealth thick-tailed?. IPEFGA, University of Greenwich. In: , , , . IPEFGA, University of Greenwich, University of Greenwich, London (doi: ).
Tippet, Benjamin , Wildauer, Rafael, Onaran, Özlem (2021), The case for a progressive annual wealth tax in the UK. In: , , , . , (doi: ).
Wildauer, Rafael , Leitch, Stuart, Kapeller, Jakob (2021), Is a €10 trillion European climate investment initiative fiscally sustainable?. In: , , , . , Greenwich (doi: ).
Kapeller, Jakob , Leitch, Stuart, Wildauer, Rafael (2021), Policy Brief: A European Wealth Tax. PEGFA: Institute of Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability. In: , , , . PEGFA: Institute of Political Economy, Governance, Finance and Accountability, (doi: ).
Kapeller, Jakob , Leitch, Stuart, Wildauer, Rafael (2021), A European wealth tax for a fair and green recovery. Greenwich Papers in Political Economy. In: , , , . Greenwich Papers in Political Economy, London (doi: https://www.gre.ac.uk/research/activity/faculty-of-business/greenwich-papers-in-political-economy).
Tippet, Benjamin , Onaran, Özlem, Wildauer, Rafael (2021), The determinants of wealth inequality in the UK, USA and France. University of Greenwich Business School. In: , , , . University of Greenwich Business School, London (doi: ).
Heck, Ines , Kapeller, Jakob, Wildauer, Rafael (2020), Vermögenskonzentration in Österreich: Ein Update auf Basis des HFCS 2017. Arbeiterkammer Wien. In: , , , . Arbeiterkammer Wien, Vienna ISSN: 978-3706308502 (Print), (doi: https://emedien.arbeiterkammer.at/viewer/api/v1/records/AC16086820/files/source/AC16086820.pdf).
Wildauer, Rafael , Leitch, Stuart, Kapeller, Jakob (2020), How to boost the European Green Deal’s scale and ambition. University of Greenwich Business School. In: , , , . University of Greenwich Business School, London (doi: https://www.gre.ac.uk/business/research/centres/gperc/pubreports/greenwich-papers-in-political-economy).
Wildauer, Rafael and , Kapeller, Jakob (2019), A Comment on Fitting Pareto Tails to Complex Survey Data. In: , , , . , (doi: ).
Wildauer, Rafael and , Kapeller, Jakob (2019), Rank Correction: A New Approach to Differential Nonresponse in Wealth Survey Data. In: , , , . , (doi: ).
Stockhammer, Engelbert and , Wildauer, Rafael (2017), Expenditure Cascades, Low Interest Rates or Property Booms? Determinants of Household Debt in OECD countries. Post Keynesian Economics Study Group. In: , , , . Post Keynesian Economics Study Group, Kingston upon Thames, U.K. (2017-0) (doi: http://www.postkeynesian.net/downloads/working-papers/PKWP1710.pdf).
Wildauer, Rafael and , (2016), Determinants of US Household Debt: New Evidence from the SCF. Post Keynesian Economics Study Group. In: , , , . Post Keynesian Economics Study Group, Kingston upon Thames, U.K. (2016-0) (doi: https://www.postkeynesian.net/working-papers/1608/).