Are the 1% the 1% because they deserve it?

New paper: "It’s the Market: The Broad-Based Rise in the Return to Top Talent" by Steven N. Kaplan and Joshua Rauhvia via Greg Mankiw:

We believe that the U.S. evidence on income and wealth shares for the top 1 percent is most consistent with a “superstar”-style explanation rooted in the importance of scale and skill-biased technological change. In particular, we interpret the fact that the top 1 percent is spread broadly across a variety of occupations as most consistent with an important role for skill-biased technological change and increased scale. These facts are less consistent with an argument that the gains to the top 1 percent are rooted in greater managerial power or changes in social norms about what managers should earn.