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Intergenerational wealth accumulation and dispersion in the Ottoman Empire: observations from eighteenth-century Kastamonu

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 February 2011

METIN COŞGEL  and
BOĞAÇ A. ERGENE
METIN COŞGEL
Affiliation:
Department of Economics Unit 1063, University of Connecticut, 341 Mansfield Road, Room 316, Monteith, Storrs, CT 06269-1063, metin.cosgel@uconn.edu
BOĞAÇ A. ERGENE
Affiliation:
History Department, University of Vermont, 133 South Prospect Street, Burlington, VT 05405, bogac.ergene@uvm.edu
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Abstract

This article examines intergenerational wealth accumulation and transmission patterns in eighteenth-century Ottoman Kastamonu (located in north-central Anatolia), by utilizing the quantitative information as found in probate estate inventories. Specifically, it explores how sons' wealth levels were determined by a number of factors. Our results indicate that the father's wealth and the duration of wealth accumulation were positively related to the son's wealth. But the number of inheritors and, for the most part, honorary titles did not influence wealth accumulation. In addition to providing valuable insights into wealth accumulation patterns in eighteenth-century Anatolia, our findings allow us to make comparisons with Britain and comment on the process of economic development in the Middle East.

Type
Research Article
Information
European Review of Economic History , Volume 15 , Issue 2 , August 2011 , pp. 255 - 276
Copyright
Copyright © European Historical Economics Society 2011

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