Revisiting forever gained: Income dynamics in the resettlement areas of Zimbabwe, 1983-96

This study examines income dynamics for a panel of households resettled on former white-owned farms in the aftermath of Zimbabwe's independence. There are four core findings: (i) over a 13-year period'(1983-96) there has been an impressive accumulation of assets and a dramatic increase of crop incom es, (ii) the rise of crop incomes is partly due to asset accumulation bus l argely to increased asset returns; (iii) differences between households in initial conditions, such as previous farming experience, have few persisten t effects; and (iv) income growth has been widely shared, income inequality has fallen sharply and the largest percentage increases in incomes are rec orded by households that initially had the lowest incomes.