Social Accounting for Inequality: Applying Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century

Abstract

This essay reviews the potential of Thomas Piketty's Capital in the Twenty-First Century (2014. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press) to inform social accounting research into economic inequality. Economic inequality is conceptually central to social accounting agendas, yet there has been surprisingly little accounting research in this area. Piketty's text can help build this research agenda by providing a systematic account of the growth and structure of economic inequality, especially since his analysis follows a similar underlying approach to influential texts in social and environmental accounting research. At the same time, the essay argues that social accountants can address limitations of Piketty's analysis, particularly by offering a more nuanced analysis of how economic inequality is embedded in corporate structures and practices. Thus, Piketty's text is not only a timely reminder of why the social distribution of economic resources matters, but also an invitation for social accountants to engage more fully in unfolding public debates about the future of resource distribution.

Notes

1 In contrast to classical economists, Piketty uses the terms ‘wealth’ and ‘capital’ interchangeably (Piketty 2014, 47; see also: Sheil 2014).