Colonial legacies and wealth inequality in Kenya

Dados Bibliográficos

ID9814716
AutoresRebecca Simson (0000-0002-9840-4729, University of Oxford, autor correspondente)
Ano2024
Volume94
Páginas101623
Data de publicação2024-10-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoExplorations in Economic History (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0014-4983 • E-ISSN: 1090-2457
EditoraElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.eeh.2024.101623
OpenAlexW4402438245
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas39

This article discusses the evolution of Kenya's wealth distribution from the late 1950s to the present. Utilizing previously untapped probate and administration sources, it measures the share of Kenyans leaving estates at death, and maps how this wealth-owning strata has changed over time. It shows a growth in African estates after independence, and by the 1980s roughly 8 % of Kenyans left estates at death, largely a consequence of land titling and land reform. Meanwhile, European estates dwindled as settlers divested. Since the 1990s, Nairobi-based estate-holders are growing in share, reflecting the importance of urban property to the portfolios of the wealthy. Measures of top wealth shares suggest high wealth inequality in both the late colonial period and the present, but today's wealth inequality is driven by the uneven distribution of housing wealth, more so than by agricultural land. These findings illustrate how a variety of colonial legacies influenced wealth accumulation in postcolonial Kenya

Colonialism · Development economics · Economic geography · Economics · Geography · Inequality · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Economic Growth and Development