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Jeanne Cilliers . Photo

Jeanne Cilliers

Researcher

Jeanne Cilliers . Photo

Legacies of Loss : The intergenerational 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. 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.

Department/s

  • Department of Economic History

Publishing year

2019

Language

English

Publication/Series

Lund Papers in Economic History. Development Economics

Issue

2019:197

Document type

Working paper

Topic

  • Economic History

Keywords

  • intergenerational health
  • intergenerational persistence
  • wealth shock
  • lifespan
  • longevity
  • slave emancipation
  • Cape Colony

Status

Published

Project

  • The Cape of the Good Hope Panel: Long-term studies of growth, inequality and labour coercion in the global south