A reconsideration of the economic decline of the British aristocracy 1858–2018
基于1858至2018年世袭贵族的遗嘱认证数据，发现英国贵族的经济衰落始于一战后，与土地价格无关，避税比遗产税影响更大，贵族通过分离经济利益与身份特征得以更持久地维持地位。
Abstract Historical accounts of the British aristocracy argue its economic decline was owed to anachronistic characteristics, declining land values, and inheritance taxes. We find disconfirming evidence based on the hereditary peerage's probates 1858 to 2018, showing: decline only began after World War I; no links between aristocratic wealth and farmland prices; and a greater role for tax avoidance with respect to inheritance taxes. Aristocrats also followed the rich with their share of wealth dwindling over the 20th century. Together, these arguments suggest the British aristocracy detached economic interests from status characteristics enabling them to persist more effectively than previously thought.