A bibliometric visualization of the economics and sociology of wealth inequality: a world apart?

Abstract

Wealth inequality research is fragmented across different social science disciplines. This article explores the potential of interdisciplinary perspectives by investigating the thematic overlap between economic and sociological approaches to wealth inequality. To do so, we use the Web of Science citation database to identify pertinent articles on the topic of wealth inequality in each discipline (1990‒2017). On the basis of complete bibliographies of these selected articles, we construct co-citation networks and obtain thematic clusters. What becomes evident is a low thematic overlap: Economists explore the causes of wealth inequality based on mathematical models and study the interplay between inequality and economic growth. Sociologists focus mostly on wealth disparities between ethnic groups. The article identifies, however, a few instances of cross-disciplinary borrowing and the French economist Thomas Piketty as a novel advocate of interdisciplinarity in the field. The prospects of an economics-cum-sociology of wealth inequality are discussed in the conclusion.