Economic inequality and growth before the industrial revolution: the case of the Low Countries (fourteenth to nineteenth centuries)

Ryckbosch, Wouter

doi:10.1093/ereh/hev018

Cited by 70 publications

(24 citation statements)

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“…It thus yields indirectly an estimation of the rental value of all residences and is therefore a source for the distribution of rents. In keeping with other recent early modern studies, we assume it is a reasonable guide for the household income distribution of the places observed (van Zanden 1995;Ryckbosch 2016;Alfani and Ammannati 2016;Hanus 2013).…”

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confidence: 97%

“…The present description of these four hypotheses can be followed in two excellent summaries by Van Zanden (1995) and Ryckbosch (2016). 28 Invoked by Van Zanden (1995) and Ryckbosch (2016). functional distribution of income, i.e., how output was shared between the factors of production (Ryckbosch 2016).…”

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confidence: 99%

“…28 Invoked by Van Zanden (1995) and Ryckbosch (2016). functional distribution of income, i.e., how output was shared between the factors of production (Ryckbosch 2016). The question then becomes-what propelled these modifications?…”

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confidence: 99%

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Deviant behaviour? Inequality in Portugal 1565–1770

Reis

2016

Cliometrica

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This study offers an estimate of Portuguese income inequality over a period of more than 200 years. It is presented in three widely spaced benchmarks: 1565, 1700 and 1770. This entirely new index is based in large measure on a littleresearched annual personal income tax (décima) instituted in 1641. It covered all social classes, including nobility and clergy and every form of household earnings, and permits therefore a singularly accurate measure. It allows us to conclude that, in contrast with early modern Europe in general, Portugal experienced a notable decline in economic inequality. Several freshly minted quantitative indicators enable us to conclude that the burden of the explanation for this apparently 'deviant' behaviour can be ascribed to changes in the functional distribution of income. Significant transformations in Portuguese agriculture-towards labour-intensive products like maize and wine-permanently shifted the wage-rental ratio in favour of labour. The skill premium fell but its contribution was relatively modest. It was a time of sustained economic growth, but this was not associated with pronounced urbanization or industrialization.

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Deviant behaviour? Inequality in Portugal 1565–1770

Reis

2016

Cliometrica

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“…Furthermore, those much older works able to reconstruct property or wealth distribution further back in time for the Middle Ages have generally only done this for short time periods or single dates—often reliant on exceptional or “special” sources such as the 1427 Florentine Catasto or the 1279–80 Hundred Rolls (Bekar and Reed 2013; Herlihy and Klapisch-Zuber 1978). However, in very recent years, a few select pioneering works have appeared that show that reconstruction of different types of inequality for the (late) Middle Ages can be possible, can be integrated with longer-run series of inequality connecting to the early modern period, and do not necessarily need to be restricted to places with better source provision such as England or Italy (Alfani 2015; Alfani and Ammannati 2014), but have been attempted for parts of the Low Countries (Ryckbosch 2016; van Bavel 2009), Portugal (Johnson 2001), and for the Kingdom of Valencia (Baydal Sala and Martí 2014), for example.…”

Section: Medieval Economic History and Disaster Research: Its Contribmentioning

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History and the Social Sciences: Shock Therapy with Medieval Economic History as the Patient

Curtis¹,

Bavel²,

Soens³

2016

Social Science History

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Since the turn of the Millennium, major changes in economic history practice such as the dominance of econometrics and the championing of “big data,” as well as changes in how research is funded, have created new pressures for medieval economic historians to confront. In this article, it is suggested that one way of strengthening the field further is to more explicitly link up with hypotheses posed in other social sciences. The historical record is one “laboratory” in which hypotheses developed by sociologists, economists, and even natural scientists can be explicitly tested, especially using dual forms of geographical and chronological comparison. As one example to demonstrate this, a case is made for the stimulating effect of “disaster studies.” Historians have failed to interact with ideas from disaster studies, not only because of the general drift away from the social sciences by the historical discipline, but also because of a twin conception that medieval disaster study bears no relation to the modern, and that medieval coping strategies were hindered by providence, superstition, fear, and panic. We use the medieval disasters context to demonstrate that medieval economic history can contribute to big narratives of our time, including climate change and inequality. This contribution can be in (1) investigating the root causes of vulnerability and resilience, and recovery of societies over the long term (moving disaster studies away from instant impact focus) and (2) providing the social context needed to interpret the massive amount of “big data” produced by historical climatologists, bioarchaeologists, economists, and so on.

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“…Ahora bien, los historiadores de época preindustrial también han tratado de estudiar la distribución de la riqueza para la época moderna y, cuando se ha presentado posible, también para la medieval. No solo cabe mencionar al ya mencionado Van Zanden (1995) para el caso de los Países Bajos, sino también los trabajos de Wouter Ryckbosch (2014Ryckbosch ( , 2012 y Jord Hanus (2014Hanus ( , 2013 para esta misma región, o los de Guido Alfani (2014Alfani ( , 2010Alfani ( , 2009) sobre las regiones centro-septentrionales de Italia, los de Santiago Caballero sobre España (2011) y, finalmente, los de Reis y Martins sobre Portugal (2012). Hay que reconocer que los medievalistas también se han aproximado al tema de la desigualdad por su propio pie, que ya han calculado coeficientes de Gini 5 en Inglaterra, Francia y diversas áreas de la Península ibérica (Rubin, 1987;Bekar y Reed, 2013;Sussman, 2006;Slivinski y Sussman, 2009;Ribalta y Turull, 1992;Tello, 1987;Oliva Herrer, 2000ay 2000b 6 .…”

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Aproximación a la desigualdad económica a través de fuentes fiscales bajomedievales: Valls (1378), Sevilla (1384) y Palma (1478)

Fernández

Muñoz-Caravaca

Domingo

2017

FdP

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RESUMEN: El interés por la desigualdad en la riqueza entre las sociedades preindustriales se ha reavivado con fuerza en la historia económica. Los historiadores consagrados al período bajomedieval, y más concretamente de la Península ibérica, tienen por delante el reto de ponerse a la altura de sus compañeros modernistas. Algo posible gracias a la existencia de métodos de análisis ya desarrollados en la disciplina económica, y de fuentes fiscales basadas en una estimación del patrimonio de los contribuyentes. Con el fin de aproximar el tema, este trabajo analiza tres casos concretos, procedentes 1 Universitat de València. Este trabajo forma parte del proyecto «Crecimiento económico y desigualdad social en la Europa mediterránea, siglos xiii-xv» (HAR2014-58730-P). Esta investigación cuenta con el apoyo de una ayuda de Formación del Profesorado Universitario (FPU), una ayuda de Formación del Personal Investigador (FPI) del Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte del Gobierno de España y, finalmente, de una ayuda predoctoral Atracció de Talent de la Universitat de València. . En el caso de Valls y Sevilla, se ha recurrido a transcripciones o material ya publicado, mientras que para el caso de Palma se ha estudiado un registro original inédito. La primera parte plantea los límites y posibilidades del uso de estas fuentes para el estudio de la desigualdad en el contexto bajomedieval. La segunda explica los fundamentos de nuestra metodología, basada en el cálculo de coeficientes de Gini y el análisis de la distribución de la riqueza por deciles, aplicada a esta fuente concreta. La tercera y última parte muestra algunos resultados provisionales, fundamentalmente, desde la perspectiva de las desigualdades entre grupos sociales, entre poblaciones rurales y urbanas y, finalmente, entre hombres y mujeres.Palabras clave: desigualdad económica; fuentes fiscales; Iberia; Baja Edad Media.ABSTRACT: Wealth inequality in pre-industrial societies is a newly reinvigorated topic in economic history. Late medieval historians, particularly those of Iberia, face the challenge to catch up with their early modern counterparts. This proves completely possible due to the existence of analytic methods already developed in economics, as well as tax sources based on patrimony estimates of tax-payers. With the aim of addressing such a topic, this essay analyses three cases coming from various late medieval Iberian populations: Valls (1378), Seville (1384) and Palma (1478). In the case of Valls and Sevile the evidence has been based on transcriptions of available material, while for Palma we have studied a original unpublised record. Part one poses the limits and possibilities of the usage of these sources for the study of inequality in the late medieval context. Part two explains the foundations of our methodology, which relies on the calculation of Gini coefficients and deciles-based wealth distribution, as applied to these sources. Finally, part three shows provisional evidence from the viewpoint of inequality between occupational groups,...

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Economic inequality and growth before the industrial revolution: the case of the Low Countries (fourteenth to nineteenth centuries)

Cited by 70 publications

References 41 publications

Deviant behaviour? Inequality in Portugal 1565–1770

Deviant behaviour? Inequality in Portugal 1565–1770

History and the Social Sciences: Shock Therapy with Medieval Economic History as the Patient

Aproximación a la desigualdad económica a través de fuentes fiscales bajomedievales: Valls (1378), Sevilla (1384) y Palma (1478)

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