{"id":669199,"date":"2025-05-15T00:00:37","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T21:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/ten-things-research-tells-us-about-the-global-economic-elite\/"},"modified":"2025-05-15T00:00:37","modified_gmt":"2025-05-14T21:00:37","slug":"ten-things-research-tells-us-about-the-global-economic-elite","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ten-things-research-tells-us-about-the-global-economic-elite\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten things research tells us about the global economic elite"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3bf18c9bcff\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3bf18c9bcff\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/ten-things-research-tells-us-about-the-global-economic-elite\/#Ten_takeaways_from_the_database\" >Ten takeaways from the database<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-gallery lightGallery\">\n<div data-thumb=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/tmb\/2025\/ten-things-research-te.jpg\" data-src=\"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/ten-things-research-te.jpg\" data-sub-html=\"Age distribution of elites by country and gender, sorted by median age. Credit: &lt;i&gt;The British Journal of Sociology&lt;\/i&gt; (2025). DOI: 10.1111\/1468-4446.13203\">\n<figure class=\"article-img\">\n            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/scx1.b-cdn.net\/csz\/news\/800a\/2025\/ten-things-research-te.jpg\" alt=\"Ten things research tells us about the global economic elite\" title=\"Age distribution of elites by country and gender, sorted by median age. Credit: The British Journal of Sociology (2025). DOI: 10.1111\/1468-4446.13203\" width=\"800\" height=\"530\"\/><figcaption class=\"text-darken text-low-up text-truncate-js text-truncate mt-3\">\n                Age distribution of elites by country and gender, sorted by <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">media<\/a>n age. Credit: <i>The British Journal of Sociology<\/i> (2025). DOI: 10.1111\/1468-4446.13203<br \/>\n            <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Who are the people that make up the world&#8217;s economic elite\u2014and do they differ between countries? In a new, unique database, an international team of researchers has compiled individual data from 16 countries that together account for a third of the world&#8217;s population and more than half of the world&#8217;s GDP. Their study is <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/onlinelibrary.wiley.com\/doi\/10.1111\/1468-4446.13203\" target=\"_blank\">published<\/a> in <i>The British Journal of Sociology<\/i>.<\/p>\n<p>The economic elite examined in this particular scenario includes CEOs and board members of major corporations, the world&#8217;s wealthiest individuals, and those with the power to regulate the economy. The World Elite Database (WED) contains more than 3,500 names from 16 countries that together represent 54% of global GDP, and includes gender, age, education and place of birth.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Economic elites are interesting because they hold enormous power. They influence people&#8217;s working conditions, national prosperity, and financial destinies. This is the first database of its kind, and many researchers will continue to develop it and use it in various capacities,&#8221; comments H\u00e5kan Johansson, professor in social work at Lund University in Sweden, and chair of the network of researchers who have worked on the database.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Ten_takeaways_from_the_database\"><\/span>Ten takeaways from the database<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>The individuals largely resemble one another\u2014but differences exist.<\/li>\n<li>They are predominantly male.<\/li>\n<li>The oldest elite is found in the U.S., with a median age of 62; the youngest are in China and Poland, where the median is 55 and a larger share are ultra-wealthy individuals under 40.<\/li>\n<li>China stands out in terms of birthplace: nearly half were born in small villages.<\/li>\n<li>Only 1% of China&#8217;s elite were born abroad, compared to 20\u201336% in the US, Denmark, Switzerland, and Chile. The UK tops the list with 45% born abroad.<\/li>\n<li>Up to 20% of the UK&#8217;s economic elite come from the country&#8217;s former colonies.<\/li>\n<li>Sweden stands out in one area of education: only 5% of Sweden&#8217;s economic elite have a doctoral degree, compared to Germany that tops the list with 35%, followed by Poland, China, Switzerland, the US, and Finland.<\/li>\n<li>A master&#8217;s degree is the most common level of education, except in Argentina, Italy, and the UK, where a bachelor&#8217;s degree is more prevalent. The lowest level of education is found among those who have inherited their wealth.<\/li>\n<li>So what should you study if you want to become part of the economic elite? The safest bet is to study economics. This field tops the list in every country except China and Finland, where an engineering degree is slightly more common.<\/li>\n<li>The UK, Poland, and Switzerland are the countries where degrees in the humanities or law are most valued\u2014in these countries, at least 20% of the top tier have studied these subjects. The corresponding figure for Sweden, Denmark, and Norway is below 10%.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"article-main__more p-4\">\n<p><strong>More information:<\/strong><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFelix B\u00fchlmann et al, Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database (WED), <i>The British Journal of Sociology<\/i> (2025). <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" data-doi=\"1\" href=\"https:\/\/dx.doi.org\/10.1111\/1468-4446.13203\" target=\"_blank\">DOI: 10.1111\/1468-4446.13203<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"d-inline-block text-medium mt-4\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tProvided by<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tLund University<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"icon_open\" href=\"http:\/\/www.lu.se\/english\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<svg>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<use href=\"https:\/\/phys.b-cdn.net\/tmpl\/v6\/img\/svg\/sprite.svg#icon_open\" x=\"0\" y=\"0\"\/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/svg><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- print only --><\/p>\n<div class=\"d-none d-print-block\">\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Citation<\/strong>:<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTen things research tells us about the global economic elite (2025, May 14)<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tretrieved 14 May 2025<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tfrom https:\/\/phys.org\/<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>\/2025-05-ten-global-economic-elite.html\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no<br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script id=\"facebook-jssdk\" async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more Like this articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/sciencee\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Science category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/phys.org\/news\/2025-05-ten-global-economic-elite.html\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Age distribution of elites by country and gender, sorted by median age. Credit: The British Journal of Sociology (2025). DOI: 10.1111\/1468-4446.13203 Who are the people that make up the world&#8217;s economic elite\u2014and do they differ between countries? In a new, unique database, an international team of researchers has compiled individual data from 16 countries that&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":669200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/scx2.b-cdn.net\/gfx\/news\/hires\/2025\/ten-things-research-te.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-669199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sciencee"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669199"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669199\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}