Stone Center Senior Scholar
Director, The GC Wealth Project
CUNY Graduate Center
Salvatore Morelli is the director of the GC Wealth Project and a former visiting assistant professor at the Graduate Center, CUNY. He is currently an assistant professor in public economics in the Law Department at the Roma Tre University. He holds a DPhil in Economics from the University of Oxford and is also a research associate at the Center for Studies of Economics and Finance (CSEF) at the University of Naples Federico II.
His current research projects focus on the estimation of personal wealth concentration and its evolution over time. His research to date has also investigated the distributional effect of macroeconomic crises, with particular reference to top income groups; the empirical and theoretical foundations of the view that inequality may contribute to economic and financial instability; and the evolution and measurement of several dimensions of economic inequality over time for a series of countries.
Areas of Expertise
Wealth Concentration
Tax Policy (Related to Wealth)
Featured Work
The GC Wealth Project is a multi-year collaboration to expand access to current research and information on wealth inequality.
The Concentration of Personal Wealth in Italy 1995–2016
P. Acciari, F. Alvaredo, and S. Morelli. Journal of the European Economic Association. 2024.
Intergenerational Wealth Transfers in Great Britain from the Wealth and Assets Survey in Comparative Perspective
B. Nolan, J. Palomino, P. Van Kerm, and S. Morelli. Fiscal Studies. 2022.
Drawing a Line: Comparing the Estimation of Top Incomes Between Tax Data and Household Survey Data
N. Yonzan, B. Milanovic, S. Morelli, and J. Gornick. The Journal of Economic Inequality. vol. 20, pp. 67–95. 2022.
Inheritance, Gifts, and the Accumulation of Wealth for Low-Income Households
S. Morelli, B. Nolan, J. C. Palomino, and P. Van Kerm. Journal of European Social Policy. vol. 31, no. 5. pp. 533–548. 2021.
kmr: A Command to Correct Survey Weights for Unit Nonresponse Using Groups’ Response Rates
E. Muñoz and S. Morelli. The Stata Journal. vol. 21, no. 1. pp. 206–219. 2021.
On the Distribution of Estates and the Distribution of Wealth: Evidence from the Dead
Y. Berman and S. Morelli. NBER. 2021.
A Tale of Two Countries: The Long Shadow of the Crisis on Income and Wealth in Germany and Italy
C. Bartels and S. Morelli. Journal of Modern European History. vol. 19, no. 1, pp. 33–39. 2021.
Intergenerational Wealth Transfers and Wealth Inequality in Rich Countries: What Do We Learn from Gini Decomposition?
B. Nolan, J. Palomino, P. Van Kerm, and S. Morelli. Economics Letters. vol. 199. 2021.
The Wealth of Families: The Intergenerational Transmission of Wealth in Britain in Comparative Perspective
B. Nolan, J. Palomino, P. Van Kerm, and S. Morelli. Institute for New Economic Thinking/Oxford. 2020
The Dynamics of Wealth Concentration: Thoughts on Tony Atkinson’s Contributions
S. Morelli. Italian Economic Journal. vol. 6, pp. 197–205. 2020.
The GC Wealth Project Data Warehouse v.1.2 – Documentation
S. Morelli, T. Asher, F. Di Biase, F. Disslbacher, I. Flores, L. Giangregorio, A. Rego Johnson, M. Longmuir, G. Rella, M. Schechtl, F. Subioli, and M. Targa. Stone Center Working Paper Series. no 99. 2024.
The Influence of Inheritances on Wealth Inequality in Rich Countries
S. Morelli, B. Nolan, J. C. Palomino, and P. Van Kerm. Stone Center Working Paper. no. 94. 2024.
Evidence from the Dead: New Estimates of Wealth Inequality Using the Distribution of Estates
F. Alvaredo, Y. Berman, and S. Morelli. Stone Center Working Paper no. 91. 2024.
A New Geography of Inequality: Top Incomes in Italian Regions and Inner Areas
D. Guzzardi and S. Morelli. Stone Center Working Paper. no. 88. 2024.
Wealth, Inheritance, and Concentration: An ‘Old’ New Perspective on Italy and Its Regions
G. Gabbuti and S. Morelli. Stone Center Working Paper Series. no. 78. 2023.
The GC Wealth Project Data Warehouse v.1 – Documentation
S. Morelli, T. Asher, F. Di Biase, F. Disslbacher, I. Flores, A. Rego Johnson, G. Rella, M. Schechtl, F. Subioli, and M. Targa. Stone Center Working Paper Series. no 75. 2023.
Inheritance, Gifts, and the Wealth Deficit of Low-Income Households
S. Morelli, B. Nolan, J. Palomino, and P. Van Kerm. Stone Center Working Paper Series. no 40. 2021.
The Concentration of Personal Wealth in Italy 1995–2016
P. Acciari, F. Alvaredo, and S. Morelli. Stone Center Working Paper Series. no. 36. 2021.
On the Distribution of Estates and the Distribution of Wealth: Evidence from the Dead
Y. Berman and S. Morelli. Stone Center Working Paper Series. no. 31. 2021.
Drawing a Line: Comparing the Estimation of Top Incomes Between Tax Data and Household Survey Data
N. Yonzan, B. Milanovic, S. Morelli, and J. Gornick. Stone Center Working Paper Series. no. 27. 2020.
Stone Center Scholars Present Work at III/LIS Economic Inequality Conference
Fifteen researchers associated with the GC CUNY Stone Center, including three senior scholars, attended the 2nd III/LIS Comparative Economic Inequality Conference, held in Luxembourg on February 27 and 28.
Salvatore Morelli on the Rising Importance of Inheritance and How to Curb Its Negative Effects
Salvatore Morelli, whose research was cited by The Economist in a recent article on the “return of inheritocracy,” discusses the surge in inherited wealth, what this means for wealth inequality, and potential solutions for the negative effects of the ongoing Great Wealth Transfer.
Stone Center’s Fourth Cohort of Postdocs to Start Tenure-Track Positions
Tina Law and Manuel Schechtl are starting new tenure-track positions this summer after completing their two-year terms at the Graduate Center.
The Stone Center Launches the GC Wealth Project, Expanding and Consolidating Research and Data on Wealth
The Stone Center announces the launch of the GC Wealth Project website, the result of a multi-year effort aimed at expanding and consolidating access to the most up-to-date research and information on wealth and wealth inequality.
The GC Wealth Project: Salvatore Morelli on the Launch of a New Tool for Understanding Wealth Inequality
In this post, Salvatore Morelli, director of the Stone Center’s GC Wealth Project and an associate professor in public economics in the Law Department at the Roma Tre University, announces the launch of the GC Wealth Project website.
From Measuring the Top 1 Percent to Studying the Effects of Covid-19 on Poverty and Inequality: Nishant Yonzan
In this interview, Nishant Yonzan, who earned his Ph.D. from the Graduate Center in 2022, talks about his study, coauthored with Stone Center Scholars Branko Milanovic, Salvatore Morelli, and Janet Gornick, that was recently published in The Journal of Economic Inequality.
Mind the Gap: Disparities in Measured Income Between Survey and Tax Data
In this commentary, originally posted on VoxEU, Nishant Yonzan, Branko Milanovic, Salvatore Morelli, and Janet Gornick analyze when and why household survey data and tax data diverge at the top of the income distribution.
How Is Personal Wealth Concentrated in Italy, Which Has One of the Highest Wealth-to-Income Ratios Among High-Income Countries?
A working paper by Paolo Acciari, Facundo Alvaredo, and Salvatore Morelli uses a novel source to shed light on the wealth distribution from 1995 to 2016.
How Has the 1 Percent Changed in the Last Century, and How Can We Best Measure This Change?
In this research spotlight, Salvatore Morelli and his colleagues analyze ways of studying wealth concentration, as well as new findings on the dramatic shifts in the U.K.
The Intergenerational Transmission of Wealth in Rich Countries
In this blog post, Brian Nolan and his coauthors discuss their research on patterns of wealth transfers across generations and the role this plays in wealth accumulation.
Richer and More Equal? A Conversation between Salvatore Morelli and Daniel Waldenström
Salvatore Morelli, the director of the GC Wealth Project and a Stone Center Senior Scholar, and Stone Center Affiliated Scholar Daniel Waldenström discuss Waldenström's new book, Richer and More Equal: A New History of Wealth in the West.
Salvatore Morelli at Visionary Days 2021
In this video, Salvatore Morelli presents his talk at the digital event “How Fast Will Tomorrow Be?” This video is in Italian.
Virtual Workshop 2020: The Growing Relevance of Wealth and Inheritance
In this presentation, Salvatore Morelli explores the increasing importance of wealth inequality, which has been rising since the 1980s in high-income countries.
CNBC: Morelli on the Impacts of Wealth Taxes
In a video for CNBC, Salvatore Morelli discusses wealth taxes.
Panel: After Piketty
In this video, Stone Center scholars give context to the current political debate over economic growth and inequality.
Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality