Graduation Year
2026
Document Type
Open Access Senior Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelor of Arts
Department
Economics
Reader 1
Patrick Van Horn
Reader 2
Nayana Bose
Terms of Use & License Information
Rights Information
©2025 Grace I Gates
Abstract
Drawing on microdata from the Survey of Health, Aging, and Retirement in Europe, this study compares European Holocaust survivors who received reparations with similar Europeans who did not. It finds that, decades on, recipients are not systematically better or worse off on core outcomes like life satisfaction, savings, and debt. This is consistent with the argument that reparations restore parity rather than create new advantages. Where differences emerge, they point to stabilization in more vulnerable settings (e.g., lower likelihood of high debt in parts of Eastern Europe). The main takeaway from effective reparations is applicable to the United States debate: reparations are a means of financial reconciliation with our past that do not create new wealth imbalances but instead help establish a more even playing field.
Recommended Citation
Gates, Grace I., "The Economics of Accountability: Learning from German Holocaust Reparations" (2026). Scripps Senior Theses. 2879.
https://scholarship.claremont.edu/scripps_theses/2879
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