Using panel data for a sample of households in Utah from 1850 to 1900 we find income and wealth age profiles that are concave and that have a peak within the age distribution of the relevant sample. This finding holds for cross sections at five-year intervals, for pooled cross section...

This paper uses a data set composed of combinations of full brothers, half brothers as well as fathers and sons to measure the effect of common family background on households'income and wealth. While the data is drawn from a nineteenth century population, the intra-class correlation (after the...

The relationship between the wealth or income of parents and children is an important economic issue in both positive and normative senses. In this paper, we estimate elasticities of sons' income or wealth with respect to the wealth of their fathers for a sample of households in nineteenth...

We consider the problems that may arise when cross sectional data alone are used for inferences about individual welfare, the existence of elites, the possibilities of class boundaries, the openness of a society, etc. We also consider problems with alternative measures of socio-economic...

Observationally alike individuals who make different choices about on-the-job investments should have earnings profiles that differ in systematic ways. In particular, investments in non-specific human capital should result in lower initial earnings but higher earnings growth rates. Human capital...