Rethinking the Lebanese Economic Miracle: The Extreme Concentration of Income and Wealth in Lebanon 2005-2014. Assouad, L. 2018.
Rethinking the Lebanese Economic Miracle: The Extreme Concentration of Income and Wealth in Lebanon 2005-2014 [pdf]Paper  Rethinking the Lebanese Economic Miracle: The Extreme Concentration of Income and Wealth in Lebanon 2005-2014 [link]Website  abstract   bibtex   
In this paper, I combine surveys, national accounts, and personal income tax records to produce the first estimates of the national income distribution in Lebanon over the period 2005-2014. I find that income is extremely concentrated, with the top 1 and 10 percent of the adult population receiving approximately 25 and 55 percent of national income, placing Lebanon among countries with the highest level of income inequality in the world. Shifting the analysis to wealth, I find that the richest 1 and 10 percent receive almost 40 and 70 percent of total personal wealth. Taken together, these results question the view of Lebanon as a paragon of economic success in the Middle East: the dynamism of the tourism, banking and real-estate sectors has benefited only a minority of the population, while a large part still lives in extreme poverty.

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