Multigenerational Transmission of Wealth: Florence, 1403–1480
American Economic Journal: Applied Economics
vol. 16,
no. 2, April 2024
(pp. 99-129)
Abstract
By using hand-collected data on households' wealth assessments, we study multigenerational mobility in Florence during the late Middle Ages. We find that Florentine society was more mobile than one would expect but also that multigenerational mobility was lower than implied by two-generation estimates. We reconcile these findings by showing their consistency with a model where wealth transmission is governed by an unobserved latent factor. We also show that, given our estimates, this model is compatible with the long run persistence obtained by previous studies. Finally, we find that participation in marriage networks and politics correlates with persistence of economic status across generations.Citation
Belloc, Marianna, Francesco Drago, Mattia Fochesato, and Roberto Galbiati. 2024. "Multigenerational Transmission of Wealth: Florence, 1403–1480." American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 16 (2): 99-129. DOI: 10.1257/app.20220137Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
- G51 Household Finance: Household Saving, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
- J12 Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
- J62 Job, Occupational, and Intergenerational Mobility; Promotion
- N33 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: Europe: Pre-1913
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