Inequality in Pre-Industrial Europe (1260–1850): New Evidence From the Labor Share

Giovanni Federico; Alessandro Nuvolari; Michelangelo Vasta

doi:10.1111/roiw.12562

Inequality in Pre-Industrial Europe (1260–1850): New Evidence From the Labor Share

Giovanni Federico, Alessandro Nuvolari, Michelangelo Vasta

Economics

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The dynamics of economic inequality and its relationship with economic growth in the preindustrial world is increasingly attracting the attention of both economists and economic historians. In this paper, we tackle this theme by introducing new estimates of the labor share in five major European countries (England, France, Holland, Spain, and Portugal) for the period 1250–1850. Our estimates are constructed using an innovative method based on the conversion of real wages in 2011 PPP $. Overall, we find a complex pattern of evolution of the labor share with major fluctuations. Furthermore, using the inequality possibility frontier (IPF) framework, our results suggest that preindustrial Europe was characterized by a negative relationship between the extraction ratio and GDP.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	347-375
Number of pages	29
Journal	Review of Income and Wealth
Volume	69
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12562
State	Published - Jun 2023

Keywords

economic growth
economic history
long-term inequality

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Economics and Econometrics

Access to Document

10.1111/roiw.12562

Cite this

@article{4d02190f87cb42c1855fb1ccea2c921e,

title = "Inequality in Pre-Industrial Europe (1260–1850): New Evidence From the Labor Share",

abstract = "The dynamics of economic inequality and its relationship with economic growth in the preindustrial world is increasingly attracting the attention of both economists and economic historians. In this paper, we tackle this theme by introducing new estimates of the labor share in five major European countries (England, France, Holland, Spain, and Portugal) for the period 1250–1850. Our estimates are constructed using an innovative method based on the conversion of real wages in 2011 PPP $. Overall, we find a complex pattern of evolution of the labor share with major fluctuations. Furthermore, using the inequality possibility frontier (IPF) framework, our results suggest that preindustrial Europe was characterized by a negative relationship between the extraction ratio and GDP.",

keywords = "economic growth, economic history, long-term inequality",

author = "Giovanni Federico and Alessandro Nuvolari and Michelangelo Vasta",

note = "Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021 The Authors. Review of Income and Wealth published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of International Association for Research in Income and Wealth.",

year = "2023",

month = jun,

doi = "10.1111/roiw.12562",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "69",

pages = "347--375",

journal = "Review of Income and Wealth",

issn = "0034-6586",

publisher = "Wiley-Blackwell",

number = "2",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Inequality in Pre-Industrial Europe (1260–1850)

T2 - New Evidence From the Labor Share

AU - Federico, Giovanni

AU - Nuvolari, Alessandro

AU - Vasta, Michelangelo

PY - 2023/6

Y1 - 2023/6

N2 - The dynamics of economic inequality and its relationship with economic growth in the preindustrial world is increasingly attracting the attention of both economists and economic historians. In this paper, we tackle this theme by introducing new estimates of the labor share in five major European countries (England, France, Holland, Spain, and Portugal) for the period 1250–1850. Our estimates are constructed using an innovative method based on the conversion of real wages in 2011 PPP $. Overall, we find a complex pattern of evolution of the labor share with major fluctuations. Furthermore, using the inequality possibility frontier (IPF) framework, our results suggest that preindustrial Europe was characterized by a negative relationship between the extraction ratio and GDP.

AB - The dynamics of economic inequality and its relationship with economic growth in the preindustrial world is increasingly attracting the attention of both economists and economic historians. In this paper, we tackle this theme by introducing new estimates of the labor share in five major European countries (England, France, Holland, Spain, and Portugal) for the period 1250–1850. Our estimates are constructed using an innovative method based on the conversion of real wages in 2011 PPP $. Overall, we find a complex pattern of evolution of the labor share with major fluctuations. Furthermore, using the inequality possibility frontier (IPF) framework, our results suggest that preindustrial Europe was characterized by a negative relationship between the extraction ratio and GDP.

KW - economic growth

KW - economic history

KW - long-term inequality

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85121639501&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85121639501&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1111/roiw.12562

DO - 10.1111/roiw.12562

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85121639501

SN - 0034-6586

VL - 69

SP - 347

EP - 375

JO - Review of Income and Wealth

JF - Review of Income and Wealth

IS - 2

ER -

Inequality in Pre-Industrial Europe (1260–1850): New Evidence From the Labor Share

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this