Full Citation

Title: The Intergenerational Effects of a Large Wealth Shock: White Southerners After the Civil War

Citation Type: Working Paper

Publication Year: 2019

ISBN:

ISSN:

DOI: 10.3386/w25700

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Abstract: The nullification of slave-based wealth after the US Civil War (1861-65) was one of the largest episodes of wealth compression in history. We document that white southern households with more slave assets lost substantially more wealth by 1870 relative to households with otherwise similar pre-War wealth levels. Yet, the sons of these slaveholders recovered in income and wealth proxies by 1880, in part by shifting into white collar positions and marrying into higher status families. Their pattern of recovery is most consistent with the importance of social networks in facilitating employment opportunities and access to credit.

Url: http://www.nber.org/papers/w25700.pdf

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Authors: Ager, Philipp; Boustan, Leah Platt; Eriksson, Katherine

Series Title: NBER Working Paper Series

Publication Number: 25700

Institution: National Bureau of Economic Research

Pages: 1-63

Publisher Location: Cambridge, MA

Data Collections: IPUMS USA, IPUMS USA - Ancestry Full Count Data

Topics: Labor Force and Occupational Structure, Other

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