Full Citation

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

Citation Type: Journal Article

Publication Year: 2021

ISBN:

ISSN: 0002-8282

DOI: 10.1257/AER.20191422

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Abstract: The nullification of slave wealth after the US Civil War (1861-1865) was one of the largest episodes of wealth compression in history. We document that White Southern households that owned more slaves in 1860 lost substantially more wealth by 1870, relative to Southern households that had been equally wealthy before the war. Yet, their sons almost entirely recovered from this wealth shock by 1900, and their grandsons completely converged by 1940. Marriage networks and connections to other elite families may have aided in recovery, whereas transmission of entrepreneurship and skills appear less central.

Url: https://doi.org/10.1257/aer.20191422

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

Periodical (Full): American Economic Review

Issue: 11

Volume: 111

Pages: 3794

Data Collections: IPUMS USA - Ancestry Full Count Data

Topics: Family and Marriage, Other, Poverty and Welfare

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