ISSN: 1304-7191 | E-ISSN: 1304-7205
Power law behavior in the top wealth distribution: Evidence from Türkiye
1Faculty of Business Administration, Yasar University, Izmir
Sigma J Eng Nat Sci - DOI: 10.14744/sigma.2025.1924

Abstract

This paper investigates whether the top tail of the wealth distribution in Türkiye follows a power law. This question is significant because extreme concentration of wealth has implications for inequality, taxation, and social mobility. Using Forbes 100 rich list data for the years 2006–2020 and 2024, I apply maximum likelihood estimation to compute Pareto shape parameters and use the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test to evaluate goodness-of-fit. The results show that in 9 out of 16 years, the Pareto distribution cannot be rejected, with estimated α values ranging between 2,24 and 3,23. These findings suggest that wealth concentration in Türkiye is consistent with power law behavior in many years, though not all. The novelty of this study is that it provides the first systematic analysis of power law behavior in the Turkish wealth distribution, extending the existing literature to an emerging economy context.