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Poverty and Prosperity: A Longitudinal Study of Wealth Accumulation, 1850-1860

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  • Steckel, Richard H

Abstract

This paper depicts and analyzes the wealth distribution and wealth mobility in a national sample of nearly 1,600 households matched in the 1850 and 1860 manuscript schedules of the census. Gini coefficients, a transition matrix, the Shorrocks measure, and a regression model of wealth accumulation are estimated from these data. The findings shed light on theories of the wealth distribution, life-cycle behavior, regional economic performance, accumulation patterns of ethnic and occupational groups, and the empirical basis for critiques of capitalism. Comparisons with modern data show that mid-nineteenth-century households were less mobile at the lower end of the wealth distribution, but more mobile at the upper end. Copyright 1990 by MIT Press.

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  • Steckel, Richard H, 1990. "Poverty and Prosperity: A Longitudinal Study of Wealth Accumulation, 1850-1860," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 72(2), pages 275-285, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:tpr:restat:v:72:y:1990:i:2:p:275-85
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    Cited by:

    1. Sok Chul Hong, 2010. "Marriage and Men's Wealth Accumulation in the United States, 1860-1870," Korean Economic Review, Korean Economic Association, vol. 26, pages 27-58.
    2. James E. CURTIS Jr., 2018. "Differences in wealth, evidence from structural regression decomposition, 1850-1870," Journal of Economic and Social Thought, KSP Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 42-55, March.
    3. James E. CURTIS Jr., 2017. "Differences in wealth, education, and history," Journal of Social and Administrative Sciences, KSP Journals, vol. 4(4), pages 398-417, December.
    4. Joshua L. Rosenbloom & Gregory W. Stutes, 2005. "Reexamining the Distribution of Wealth in 1870," NBER Working Papers 11482, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Dupont, Brandon & Rosenbloom, Joshua L., 2018. "The economic origins of the postwar southern elite," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 119-131.
    6. Scott A. Carson, 2016. "Frederick Jackson Turner and the Westward Expanse: Changing Net Nutrition with Economic Development," CESifo Working Paper Series 5869, CESifo.
    7. Querubin, Pablo & Snyder, James M., 2013. "The Control of Politicians in Normal Times and Times of Crisis: Wealth Accumulation by U.S. Congressmen, 1850–1880," Quarterly Journal of Political Science, now publishers, vol. 8(4), pages 409-450, October.
    8. Burger, Ronelle & Booysen, Frikkie & Berg, Servaas van der & Maltitz, Michael von, 2006. "Marketable Wealth in a Poor African Country," MPRA Paper 9063, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Mary Cleveland, 2020. "Homelessness and Inequality," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 79(2), pages 559-590, March.
    10. Dupont, Brandon & Rosenbloom, Joshua L., 2020. "Wealth Mobility in the 1860s," ISU General Staff Papers 202009180700001112, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    11. Livio Di Matteo, 2016. "Wealth Distribution and the Canadian Middle Class: Historical Evidence and Policy Implications," Canadian Public Policy, University of Toronto Press, vol. 42(2), pages 132-151, June.
    12. Di Matteo, Livio, 1998. "Wealth Accumulation and the Life-Cycle in Economic History: Implications of Alternative Approaches to Data," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 296-324, July.
    13. Richard H. Steckel & Jayanthi Krishnan, 1992. "Wealth Mobility in America: A View from the National Longitudinal Survey," NBER Working Papers 4137, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    14. Ronelle Burger & Frikkie Booysen & Servaas van der Berg & Michael von Maltitz, 2006. "Marketable Wealth in a Poor African Country: Using an index of consumer durables to investigate wealth accumulation by households in Ghana," WIDER Working Paper Series RP2006-138, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    15. Shireen Al Azzawi, 2010. "The Dynamics of Poverty and Inequality in an Era of Economic Liberalization: The Case of Egypt," Working Papers 539, Economic Research Forum, revised 09 Jan 2010.
    16. Brandon Dupont & Joshua Rosenbloom, 2016. "The Impact of the Civil War on Southern Wealth Holders," NBER Working Papers 22184, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Galli, Stefania & Dimitrios, Theodoridis, & Rönnbäck, Klas, 2024. "Thriving in a declining economy - Elite persistence in the West Indies, 1760-1914," Göteborg Papers in Economic History 37, University of Gothenburg, Unit for Economic History.
    18. Di Matteo, Livio, 2013. "Women, wealth and economic change: An assessment of the impact of women's property law in Wentworth County, Ontario, 1872–1927," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(2), pages 285-307.
    19. Livio Di Matteo, 2008. "Wealth accumulation motives: evidence from the probate records of Ontario, 1892 and 1902," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 2(2), pages 143-171, July.

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