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The Determinants of the Wealth and Asset Holding in Nineteenth-Century Canada: Evidence from Microdata

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 March 2009

Livio Di Matteo
Livio Di Matteo
Affiliation:
Associate Professor, Economics, Lakehead University, Thunder Bay, Ontario, P7B 5E1.
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Extract

Wealth and asset holding in late-nineteenth-century Ontario are examined using a new data set of census-linked probated decedents. Hump-shaped wealth-age profiles are found, supporting the importance of demographic and life cycle forces in late-nineteenth-century financial asset accumulation. With financial asset holding more pronounced in Ontario than Quebec, the implication for Canadian economic development is that the differences in capital formation and industrialization across Ontario and Quebec are partly rooted in saving behavior. The results show that urbanization, occupational status, literacy, the number of children, and region of residence are important determinants of wealth and asset holding.

Type
Articles
Information
The Journal of Economic History , Volume 57 , Issue 4 , December 1997 , pp. 907 - 934
Copyright
Copyright © The Economic History Association 1997

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