The Repeal of the Corn Laws and Irish Emigration

If the corn laws had not been repealed, grain prices would have been higher throughout the United Kingdom than they actually were. This in turn would have implied higher agricultural employment in Ireland. The paper estimates counter-factual "No Repeal" price series for grains in the United Kingdom and then uses a model of Irish agricultural labor demand to calculate how much higher Irish agricultural employment in the 1870s would have been in the absence of repeal. The paper finds that repeal did significantly reduce Irish agricultural employment.