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Jeanne Cilliers . Photo

Jeanne Cilliers

Researcher

Jeanne Cilliers . Photo

Legacies of loss : The health outcomes of slaveholder compensation in the British Cape Colony

Author

  • Igor Martins
  • Jeanne Cilliers
  • Johan Fourie

Summary, in English

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. We find that a greater loss of slave wealth shortened the lifespans of the generation of slaveholders that experienced the shock albeit these effects are usually small and mostly confined to older cohorts of slaveholders who likely exploited slaves both as labor and capital inputs. The lifespans of those of the second generation who survived infancy were unaffected by the shortfalls and no effects of the shortfall were found for the third generation.

Department/s

  • Department of Economic History

Publishing year

2023

Language

English

Publication/Series

Explorations in Economic History

Volume

89

Document type

Journal article

Publisher

Elsevier

Topic

  • Economic History

Keywords

  • Intergenerational health
  • Intergenerational persistence
  • Wealth shock
  • Lifespan
  • Longevity
  • Slave emancipation
  • Cape Colony

Status

Published

Project

  • The establishment, growth and legacy of a settler colony: Quantitative panel studies of the political economy of Cape Colony
  • The Cape of the Good Hope Panel: Long-term studies of growth, inequality and labour coercion in the global south

ISBN/ISSN/Other

  • ISSN: 0014-4983