The Effect of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic on Income Inequality: Evidence from Italy
利用一战士兵返乡导致流感外生扩散，研究1918年流感对意大利各市镇收入不平等的影响，发现疫情严重地区短期和中期内收入不平等加剧，富人收入份额上升。
Abstract We estimate the effect of the 1918 influenza pandemic on income inequality in Italian municipalities. Our identification strategy exploits the exogenous diffusion of influenza across municipalities due to the presence of infected soldiers on leave from World War I operations. The measures of income inequality come from newly digitized historical administrative records on taxpayer incomes. We show that in the short and medium run, income inequality is higher in municipalities more afflicted by the pandemic. The effect is mostly explained by an increase in the share of income held by the rich to the detriment of the other strata of the population.