摘要：This paper uses data between 1987 and 2018 from three wealth surveys in Ireland to identify factors driving wealth dynamics in the short and long run. We show that ownership of housing is crucial. Changes in asset prices and mortgage debt also play a role. Inequality rose between 1987 and 2018 due to higher leverage for households in the middle of the wealth distribution and falling homeownership. Increased ownership of financial assets and businesses for wealthier households are also important. Between 2013 and 2018 rising house prices increased wealth particularly for households in negative equity after the financial crisis, contributing to falls in inequality in this period. Household leverage ratios declined substantially up to 2018. On the eve of the COVID-19 crisis households were more financially resilient when compared to their position a decade before at the onset of the financial crisis.
其他摘要：The period 2013 to 2018 was one of balance sheet repair for Irish households. Rising asset prices and falling debt levels led to Ireland having the largest increase in wealth in euro area during this period. Holdings of financial assets -- notably deposits and voluntary pension plans -- also increased. Wealth increased more in the lower half of the distribution, leading to a fall in wealth inequality. In 2018, households were more resilient than was the case before the previous recession, in 2008. Loan-to-income, loan-to-value and debt-servicing burdens were all significantly lower. This was the case across the distribution, but particularly in the right tail -- i.e. highly indebted households -- which has compressed the most over the last decade. We attribute this, in part, to macroprudential policy aimed at curbing excessive indebtedness.
