Wealth distribution and collective knowledge: a Boltzmann approach

Abstract

We introduce and discuss a nonlinear kinetic equation of Boltzmann type that describes the influence of knowledge in the evolution of wealth in a system of agents that interact through the binary trades, an equation first introduced by Cordier et al. (2005 J. Stat. Phys. 120 , 253–277 ( doi:10.1007/S10955-005-5456-0 )). The trades, which include both saving propensity and the risks of the market, are here modified in the risk and saving parameters, which now are assumed to depend on the personal degree of knowledge. The numerical simulations show that the presence of knowledge has the potential to produce a class of wealthy agents and to account for a larger proportion of wealth inequality.