How does each country select its economic elite? What are the differences between, say, US and Chinese elites? The new World Elite Database (WED) offers the best comparative data yet, drawn from 16 countries that account for one third of the world’s population and 54 per cent of global GDP. One fascinating early fruit is the paper, “Varieties of Economic Elites? Preliminary Results From the World Elite Database”. 

First, a caveat. A country typically has three distinct, often rivalrous elites: the political, cultural and economic. The WED defines the economic elite, in turn, as a mix of three groups: bosses of big companies, rich asset-owners, and the politicians and others involved in regulating the economy.

The paper shows that economic elites are even more male-dominated than cultural and political elites. But in another sense, the economic elite is converging with rival elites. It is increasingly credentialled, typically boasting advanced degrees in business, economics or law. The cultural elite’s centuries-old sneering at uncouth economic elites is becoming untenable. Within economic elites, the least educated group are asset owners, such as Italian heirs of family companies.