Oligarchy as a Phase Transition: The effect of wealth-attained advantage in a Fokker-Planck description of asset exchange

Abstract

In earlier work, we derived a nonlinear, nonlocal Fokker-Planck equation for the Yard-Sale Model of asset exchange. In the absence of redistribution, we showed that the Gini coefficient is a Lyapunov functional for this model, tending to one in the time-asymptotic limit, corresponding to maximal inequality. When a one-parameter model of redistribution is introduced, we showed that the model admits a steady state similar to Pareto's Law. In this work, we analyze the form of this distribution in greater detail, both analytically and numerically. We find that, while Pareto's Law is approximately valid for low redistribution, it gives way to something like Gibrat's Law at higher redistribution. We also prove that, while this Pareto or Gibrat behavior persists over many orders of magnitude, it ultimately gives way to gaussian decay at extremely large wealth. Following the work of Moukarzel et al., we introduce a bias in favor of the wealthier agent. We derive the corresponding modification to the Fokker-Planck equation, and we show this leads to wealth condensation when the bias exceeds a critical value. Earlier work took the bias to be a discontinuous function of the wealth differential between the two transacting agents, and reported a first-order phase transition to absolute oligarchy. By contrast, in this work we take the bias to be a continuous function of the wealth differential, and consequently we observe a second-order phase transition with a region of coexistence between the oligarch and a distribution of non-oligarchs. We additionally show that the onset of wealth condensation has a reciprocal effect on the character of the non-oligarchical part of the distribution. Specifically, we show that the above-mentioned gaussian decay at extremely large wealth is valid both above and below criticality, but degenerates to exponential decay precisely at criticality.