Egalitarianism, Inequality, and Age: The Rural North in 1860

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Abstract
Little is known about the distribution of wealth in the allegedly egalitarian society of the rural North on the eve of the Civil War. This paper investigates the role of the age structure of the heads of household and a life-cycle pattern of accumulation in determining the wealth distribution within that society and among the various groups that comprised it. The results suggest a need for caution in making cross-group or inter-temporal comparisons in wealth distributions without taking account of such factors.

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