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Legacies of Loss : The intergenerational outcomes of slaveholder compensation in the British Cape Colony

Martins, Igor LU ; Cilliers, Jeanne LU and Fourie, Johan (2019) In Lund Papers in Economic History. Development Economics
Abstract
Can wealth shocks have intergenerational health consequences? We use the partial compensation slaveholders received after the 1834 slave emancipation in the British Cape Colony to measure the intergenerational effects of a wealth loss on longevity. Because the share of partial compensation received was uncorrelated to wealth, we can interpret the results as having a causal influence. We find that a greater loss of slave wealth shortened the lifespans of the generation of slaveholders that experienced the shock and those of their children, but not those of their grandchildren. We speculate on the mechanisms for this intergenerational persistence.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Working paper/Preprint
publication status
published
subject
keywords
intergenerational health, intergenerational persistence, wealth shock, lifespan, longevity, slave emancipation, Cape Colony
in
Lund Papers in Economic History. Development Economics
issue
2019:197
pages
56 pages
project
The Cape of the Good Hope Panel: Long-term studies of growth, inequality and labour coercion in the global south
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
cca71867-de66-4ca1-b757-3e2e052884c1
date added to LUP
2019-03-11 10:54:02
date last changed
2022-11-08 12:25:31
@misc{cca71867-de66-4ca1-b757-3e2e052884c1,
  abstract     = {{Can wealth shocks have intergenerational health consequences? We use the partial compensation slaveholders received after the 1834 slave emancipation in the British Cape Colony to measure the intergenerational effects of a wealth loss on longevity. Because the share of partial compensation received was uncorrelated to wealth, we can interpret the results as having a causal influence. We find that a greater loss of slave wealth shortened the lifespans of the generation of slaveholders that experienced the shock and those of their children, but not those of their grandchildren. We speculate on the mechanisms for this intergenerational persistence.}},
  author       = {{Martins, Igor and Cilliers, Jeanne and Fourie, Johan}},
  keywords     = {{intergenerational health; intergenerational persistence; wealth shock; lifespan; longevity; slave emancipation; Cape Colony}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Working Paper}},
  number       = {{2019:197}},
  series       = {{Lund Papers in Economic History. Development Economics}},
  title        = {{Legacies of Loss : The intergenerational outcomes of slaveholder compensation in the British Cape Colony}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/61357218/LUPEH_197.pdf}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}