Income Mobility before Industrialization: Evidence from South Africa’s Cape Colony
Abstract Attempts to measure social mobility before the twentieth century are frequently hampered by limited data. In this paper, we use a new source – annual, matched tax censuses over more than 70 years – to calculate intragenerational income mobility within a preindustrial, settler society, the Dutch and British Cape Colony at the southern tip of Africa. Our unique source allows us to measure income mobility along several dimensions, helping to disentangle reasons for the high levels of persistence we find.
Authors
- Auke Rijpma (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8950-8227)
- Johan Fourie (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7341-017X)
- Erik Green (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7805-4696)
- Dieter von Fintel (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6771-1315)
Institutions
- Lund University (SE)
- Utrecht University (NL)
- Stellenbosch University (ZA)
- University of the Arts Utrecht (NL)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Social Science History
- Published
- 2024-09-12
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1017/ssh.2024.24
- Citations
- 2
- Primary Topic
- Migration and Labor Dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 2.26
Funders
- Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
- National Research Foundation
- Riksbankens Jubileumsfond
- Universiteit Stellenbosch
- Syddansk Universitet
- Peking University