The Wealthy in Florence Today Are the Same Families as 600 Years Ago

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They find strong evidence that socioeconomic status is incredibly persistent. The wealthiest surnames in Florence today belong to families that, in 1429, were members of the shoemakers' guild -- at the 97th percentile of income. Descendants of members of the silk guild and descendants of attorneys -- both at the 93rd percentile in 1427 -- are among the wealthiest families today.

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It's no surprise that wealth can be inherited or that one's parents play a large role in determining your social status. Other research has found that descendants of Japan's samurai -- 140 years after the end of the order -- remain elites in Japan. The economist Gregory Clark at the University of California, Davis, has written a book "The Son Also Rises" showing how wealth and status can persist for centuries.

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"The paper is about economic mobility (or persistence), that is whether the rich remain the rich," the economists wrote in an e-mail from Mr. Mocetti, "But this does not necessarily imply that they are getting ever richer. Therefore there is not a direct relation with the Piketty argument (increasing inequality over time)."

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The economists say their evidence suggests persistence is somewhat highest for the wealthiest, which they interpret as evidence for "the existence of a glass floor that protects descendants of the upper class from falling down the economic ladder."