Working Paper: NBER ID: w11482
Authors: Joshua L. Rosenbloom; Gregory W. Stutes
Abstract: This paper uses data on real and personal property ownership collected in the 1870 Federal Census to explore factors influencing individual wealth accumulation and the aggregate distribution of wealth in the United States near the middle of the nineteenth century. Previous analyses of these data have relied on relatively small samples, or focused on population subgroups. By using the much larger sample available in the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series (IPUMS) we are able to disaggregate the data much more finely than has previously been possible allowing us to explore differences in inequality across space and between different population groups. The data provide strong support for the hypothesis that American industrialization during the nineteenth century resulted in increasing inequality in the distribution of wealth.
Keywords: wealth distribution; industrialization; inequality; 1870 census
JEL Codes: N3; R2; O1
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| American industrialization during the nineteenth century (O14) | increasing inequality in the distribution of wealth (D31) |
| urbanization and industrialization (R11) | wealth distribution becoming more unequal (D31) |
| race (J15) | individual wealth accumulation (D14) |
| urbanization (R11) | individual wealth accumulation (D14) |
| occupation (J69) | individual wealth accumulation (D14) |
| literacy (G53) | property ownership (H13) |
| age (J14) | property ownership (H13) |
| disabilities (J14) | property ownership (H13) |
| geographic location (South vs North) (R12) | wealth distribution (D31) |