An Analysis of Wealth Inequality in the U.S., 1820-1910

该项目的目的是收集和分析来自东北部一个州（马萨诸塞州）和中西部一个州（俄亥俄州）的人口普查手稿的家庭数据。这些家庭将与相应人口普查年份的税单相匹配，以获得不动产和个人财产的评估价值。所得数据将创建一个时间序列，显示1820年至1910年间的不平等和财富所有权的年龄模式。由于其他州也有类似的数据，这种方法可以推广到该国的其他州和地区。匹配的记录将用于研究财富的决定因素和处理工业化期间不平等的过程、财富积累的生命周期模式的演变、职业的经济成就、少数民族和妇女的经济表现以及不平等的区域差异的来源和影响等问题。收集的数据还将阐明工业化理论，并为现代有关经济流动性和贫困循环的辩论提供历史视角。

The purpose of this project is to collect and analyze household data from manuscript schedules of the census for one state in the Northeast (Massachusetts) and one state in the Midwest (Ohio). These households will be matched with tax lists in the corresponding census years to obtain assessed values of real and personal property. The resulting data will create a time-series on inequality and on age patterns of wealth ownership from 1820 to 1910. Because similar data are available for other states, the approach could be extended to other states and regions in the country. The matched records will be used to study the determinants of wealth and to address questions on the course of inequality during industrialization, the evolution of life-cycle patterns of wealth accumulation, the economic achievements by occupation, the economic performance of ethnic minorities and women, and sources and implications of regional differences in inequality. The data collected will also shed light on theories of industrialization and give historical perspective to the modern debate over economic mobility and the cycle of poverty.