IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/rza/wpaper/268.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The wealth of the Cape Colony: Measurements from probate inventories

Author

Listed:
  • Johan Fourie

Abstract

The stylized view of the Dutch Cape Colony (1652-1795) is of a poor, subsistence economy, with little progress in the first 143 years of Dutch rule. New evidence from probate inventory and auction roll records show that previous estimates about wealth at the Cape are inaccurate. In contrast to earlier historical accounts, the inventories reveal evidence of an affluent, market-integrated settler society, comparable to the most prosperous regions in eighteenth century England and Holland.

Suggested Citation

  • Johan Fourie, 2012. "The wealth of the Cape Colony: Measurements from probate inventories," Working Papers 268, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    • Handle: RePEc:rza:wpaper:268
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.econrsa.org/node/291
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. K. Vind, 1971. "Comment," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 38(1), pages 115-115.
    2. Ram, Rati, 1982. "Dependency Rates and Aggregate Savings: A New International Cross-Section Study," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 72(3), pages 537-544, June.
    3. David E. Bloom & David Canning & Bryan Graham, 2003. "Longevity and Life‐cycle Savings," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 105(3), pages 319-338, September.
    4. An, Chong-Bum & Jeon, Seung-Hoon, 2006. "Demographic change and economic growth: An inverted-U shape relationship," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 92(3), pages 447-454, September.
    5. Eytan Sheshinski, 2005. "Longevity and Aggregate Savings," Discussion Paper Series dp403, The Federmann Center for the Study of Rationality, the Hebrew University, Jerusalem.
    6. Andrew Mason & Tomoko Kinugasa, 2005. "Why Nations Become Wealthy: The Effects of Adult Longevity on Saving," Working Papers 200514, University of Hawaii at Manoa, Department of Economics.
    7. Li, Hongbin & Zhang, Jie & Zhang, Junsen, 2007. "Effects of longevity and dependency rates on saving and growth: Evidence from a panel of cross countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 138-154, September.
    8. Robert M. Schmidt & Allen C. Kelley, 1996. "Saving, dependency and development," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 9(4), pages 365-386.
    9. Gupta, Kanhaya L, 1971. "Dependency Rates and Savings Rates: Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(3), pages 469-471, June.
    10. Milton Friedman, 1957. "A Theory of the Consumption Function," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number frie57-1, March.
    11. David M. Blau & Ryan M. Goodstein, 2010. "Can Social Security Explain Trends in Labor Force Participation of Older Men in the United States?," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 45(2).
    12. Leff, Nathaniel H, 1971. "Dependency Rates and Savings Rates: Reply," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 61(3), pages 476-480, June.
    13. Goldberger, Arthur S, 1973. "Dependency Rates and Savings Rates: Further Comment," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 63(1), pages 232-233, March.
    14. Eytan Sheshinski, 2006. "Note on Longevity and Aggregate Savings," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 108(2), pages 353-356, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Lessons from the Cape Colony
      by Johan Fourie in Johan Fourie's Blog on 2012-03-15 15:30:02
    2. Lessons from the Cape Colony
      by Johan Fourie in Johan Fourie's Blog on 2012-03-15 15:30:02

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aylit Tina Romm & Martha Wolny, 2012. "The Impact of Later Retirement Ages on Aggregate Household Savings and Saving Rates: An Analysis of OECD Countries," Working Papers 269, Economic Research Southern Africa.
    2. Pascual-Saez, Marta & Cantarero-Prieto, David & Pires Manso, José R., 2020. "Does population ageing affect savings in Europe?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 291-306.
    3. Li, Hongbin & Zhang, Jie & Zhang, Junsen, 2007. "Effects of longevity and dependency rates on saving and growth: Evidence from a panel of cross countries," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(1), pages 138-154, September.
    4. Taguchi, Hiroyuki, 2021. "A revisit to effects of demographic dynamics on economic growth in Asia," MPRA Paper 110609, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Diane Macunovich, 1999. "The Baby Boom As It Ages: How Has It Affected Patterns of Consumptions and Savings in the United States?," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 7, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
    6. Rosa Aisa & Fernando Pueyo, 2013. "Population aging, health care, and growth: a comment on the effects of capital accumulation," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(4), pages 1285-1301, October.
    7. Loumrhari, Ghizlan, 2013. "Vieillissement démographique, longévité et épargne. Le cas du Maroc [Ageing population, longevity and save. The case of Morocco]," MPRA Paper 50649, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Bloom, David E. & Canning, David & Mansfield, Richard K. & Moore, Michael, 2007. "Demographic change, social security systems, and savings," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(1), pages 92-114, January.
    9. Kam-Ki Tang & Benjamin ShiJie Wong, "undated". "The Ageing, Longevity and Crowding Out Effects on Private and Public Savings: Evidence from Dynamic Panel Analysis," MRG Discussion Paper Series 3409, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    10. Gemma Estrada & Donghyun Park & Arief Ramayandi, 2012. "Population aging and aggregate consumption in developing Asia," Chapters, in: Donghyun Park & Sang-Hyop Lee & Andrew Mason (ed.), Aging, Economic Growth, and Old-Age Security in Asia, chapter 4, pages 111-129, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    11. Cook, Christopher J., 1997. "On the appropriate specification of the life cycle savings rate model: The roles of sectoral shares, financial intermediation and foreign capital," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 6(2), pages 145-165.
    12. Esso, Loesse Jacques, 2009. "La dépendance démographique est-elle un obstacle à l’épargne et à la croissance en Côte d’Ivoire?," L'Actualité Economique, Société Canadienne de Science Economique, vol. 85(4), pages 361-382, décembre.
    13. Elwin Tobing, 2012. "Demography and cross-country differences in savings rates: a new approach and evidence," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 25(3), pages 963-987, July.
    14. Ghizlan Loumrhari, 2014. "Ageing, Longevity and Savings: The Case of Morocco," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 4(2), pages 344-352.
    15. Marta Pascual-Sáez & David Cantarero-Prieto & María González-Diego, 2018. "Testing the effect of population ageing on national saving rates: panel data evidence from Europe," Working Papers. Collection B: Regional and sectoral economics 1803, Universidade de Vigo, GEN - Governance and Economics research Network.
    16. Miguel Sánchez-Romero, 2013. "The role of demography on per capita output growth and saving rates," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(4), pages 1347-1377, October.
    17. Gulnur MURADOGLU & Fatma TASKIN, 1996. "Differences In Household Savings Behavior: Evidence From Industrial And Developing Countries," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 34(2), pages 138-153, June.
    18. Zafar Iqbal, 1993. "Institutional Variations in Saving Behaviour in Pakistan," The Pakistan Development Review, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1293-1311.
    19. Mason, Andrew & Kinugasa, Tomoko, 2008. "East Asian economic development: Two demographic dividends," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(5-6), pages 389-399.
    20. Lei He & Shuyi Zhou & Zilan Liu, 2020. "How is aggregate household consumption affected jointly by longevity, pension, and aging? Theory and evidence," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 67(4), pages 499-512, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    living standards; household wealth; inventories; South Africa; Dutch;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:rza:wpaper:268. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: . General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ersacza.html .

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dane Rossenrode (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ersacza.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service hosted by the Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis . RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.