Economic Growth and the Development of Real Wages: Swedish Construction Workers’ Wages in Comparative Perspective, 1831–1900

Abstract

Using new and uniquely detailed data, we examine how construction workers’ wages in Sweden developed between 1831 and 1900. Wages grew rapidly from the 1850s, and comparisons with Northwestern Europe show that Swedish workers benefited more from growth than workers elsewhere. Globalization forces, most notably overseas migration, in combination with flexible and well-integrated labor markets—signified by strong regional convergence, falling skill differentials, and small urban-rural wage gaps—pushed up wages in Sweden.

NURSING BABIES TO FIGHT POVERTY: WAGES OF WET NURSES OF SPANISH FOUNDLING HOSPITALS IN THE 18THAND 19THCENTURIES

“…19 18 Llopis Agelán and García Montero (2011), López Losa and Piquero Zarauz (2016), García-Zúñiga and López Losa (2021), Pérez Romero (2019), Andrés Ucendo and Lanza García (2020). 19 This last section, in contrast to the preceding one, resembles what happened in a good part of Europe (Ericsson and Mölinder 2020).…”

“…One of the problems of working with wages is not knowing whether the given occupation remained the same over time. This problem affects, for example, the wages of construction workers (Allen 2001; Ericsson and Mölinder 2020; García Zúñiga and López Losa 2021). In our case, the job being remunerated was always the same—rearing a child, which included feeding, clothing, cleaning and generally caring for the child.…”

“… 19 This last section, in contrast to the preceding one, resembles what happened in a good part of Europe (Ericsson and Mölinder 2020). …”

Workers’ access to Swedish opera houses and concert halls, 1898–2019

“…This resulted in a lack of surging skill differentials, small urban–rural wage gaps, a strong convergence of real wages across regions and, foremost, increased wages. Actually, Swedish workers had wage levels above most workers in most other European countries (Ericsson & Molinder, 2020 ). In the first half of the twentieth century, Swedish employees gained from strong trade unions.…”

Social Mobility in Sweden before the Welfare State

“…First, Sweden was Europe’s “impoverished sophisticate,” with the lowest rate of illiteracy in Europe, trailing only the United States, the world leader in educating its population (Sandberg 1979; Lindert 2004). Second, earnings differentials between skilled and unskilled Swedish workers were small already in the late-nineteenth century (Ericsson and Molinder 2022). Both explanations are seemingly consistent with Sweden’s overall high mobility.…”