Minisymposium (ID: SS-WDSEE)

Wealth Distribution And Statistical Equilibrium In Economics

Enrico Scalas (University of Sussex), Bertram Düring (University of Sussex)

The recent book by T. Piketty (Capital in the Twenty-First Century) shifted the general attention towards the important issue of wealth inequality. But why is there wealth inequality? In the last twenty years, physicists and mathematicians developed models to derive the wealth distribution using tools of statistical physics: discrete and continuous stochastic processes (random exchange models) as well as related Boltzmann-type kinetic equations. In this framework, the usual concept of equilibrium in Economics is complemented or replaced by statistical equilibrium. This special session is an opportunity to take stock of the situation and to foster further research in this field.