Long-term trends in income inequality: Winners and losers of economic change in Ghana, 1891–1960

The study contributes to a growing literature on long-term trends and drivers of pre-industrial inequality by providing new stylized facts on the evolution of income inequality in Ghana from 1891 to 1960. Using newly constructed social tables, we estimate the Gini coefficient for seven consecutive decades at a time in which the adoption and expansion of cocoa cultivation transformed the Ghanaian economy. Income inequality was already high in 1891, prior to the spread of cocoa cultivation, and it remained stable for four decades. Following a small decline in the early 1930s, inequality increased, reaching its highest level at the end of the colonial era. The expansion of cocoa cultivation and increasing cocoa incomes contributed to persistent high inequality levels until the 1930s. By contrast, the increase in inequality from 1930 to 1960 was largely due to the rising incomes of government employees, skilled workers, and commercial workers.本研究针对1891至1960年加纳收入不平等的演变提出全新典型化事实（stylized facts），为日益丰富的前工业化时期不平等长期趋势与驱动因素相关研究文献作出贡献。研究依托新编社会核算表，对该时段内七个连续十年期的基尼系数（Gini coefficient）进行了估算；此期间可可种植的推广与扩张彻底重塑了加纳经济。1891年，即在可可种植普及之前，加纳的收入不平等水平已处于高位，并在此后四十年间保持稳定。1930年代初出现小幅下降后，不平等程度持续攀升，在殖民时代末期达到峰值。1930年代之前，可可种植的扩张与可可收入的增长长期维持了高不平等水平。相较之下，1930年至1960年间不平等程度的上升，主要源于政府雇员、技术工人与商业从业者收入的持续增长。