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Did it pay to be a pioneer? Wealth accumulation in a newly settled frontier society

Cilliers, Jeanne LU ; Green, Erik LU and Ross, Robert (2022) In Lund papers in Economic history
Abstract
While wealth-holding patterns in rural areas have been well studied, the link between initial conditions, prospects for wealth accumulation, and the persistence of inequality at an agricultural frontier is less clear. On the one hand, the frontier is thought to have had a levelling effect, with the availability of cheap land acting as an equalizer. On the other hand, land rents, accumulated during the settlement process, are thought to have the opposite effect. In this paper, we contribute to the debate on inequality in pre-industrial societies using a unique dataset that allows us to identify different wealth-accumulation strategies in an agrarian frontier society: the Graaff-Reinet district in South Africa’s Cape Colony between 1786-1850.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
in
Lund papers in Economic history
issue
2022:237
pages
43 pages
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
a183d5cf-55b1-4bb7-bdfc-5096218a2a44
date added to LUP
2022-02-18 10:31:56
date last changed
2025-04-04 14:58:14
@misc{a183d5cf-55b1-4bb7-bdfc-5096218a2a44,
  abstract     = {{While wealth-holding patterns in rural areas have been well studied, the link between initial conditions, prospects for wealth accumulation, and the persistence of inequality at an agricultural frontier is less clear. On the one hand, the frontier is thought to have had a levelling effect, with the availability of cheap land acting as an equalizer. On the other hand, land rents, accumulated during the settlement process, are thought to have the opposite effect. In this paper, we contribute to the debate on inequality in pre-industrial societies using a unique dataset that allows us to identify different wealth-accumulation strategies in an agrarian frontier society: the Graaff-Reinet district in South Africa’s Cape Colony between 1786-1850.}},
  author       = {{Cilliers, Jeanne and Green, Erik and Ross, Robert}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2022:237}},
  series       = {{Lund papers in Economic history}},
  title        = {{Did it pay to be a pioneer? Wealth accumulation in a newly settled frontier society}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/114259471/LUPEH_237.pdf}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}