The richest families of Florence in 1427 remain the richest

The study adds evidence to the claim that the rich remain rich

Research has found that the richest families of Florence in Italy have remained unchanged over six centuries.

Italian economists Guglielmo Barone and Sauro Mocetti analysed and compared Florentine taxpayers in 1427 to those in 2011. Comparing family wealth to those with the same surname today, their findings suggested that the richest families in Florence 600 years ago remained unchanged.



“The top earners among the current taxpayers were found to have already been at the top of the socioeconomic ladder six centuries ago,” Barone and Mocetti note on VoxEU. The study was able to exploit a unique data set—taxpayers data in 1427 was digitised and made available online—to show long-term trends of economic mobility.

While some researchers have pointed out the downside of using the technique employed in this study, others highlight the validity of the method, claiming that Italian surnames are usually highly regional and tend to pass on linearly. This means that the families at the top of the socioeconomic ladder six centuries ago are still the top earners among current taxpayers.



Those at the top of the ladder had the most prestigious jobs, while families at the bottom had less esteemed occupations, with earnings below the median. While it comes as little surprise that families pass on wealth, what makes these finding remarkable is that the families were able to maintain their wealth through various sieges of Florence, Napoleon’s campaign in Italy, Benito Mussolini’s dictatorship and two world wars.



The study also adds evidence to the claim that the rich remain rich. In England, researchers have previously demonstrated how a family’s status in England can persist for more than eight centuries or more than 28 generations. It is a trait shared by elite families in China, whose high status has persisted since the Mao years.

This article originally appeared on Quartz.