Labor income inequality in pre-industrial Mediterranean Spain: The city of Murcia in the 18th century

Abstract

Information about the income distribution in pre-industrial societies is sparse. We analyze labor income inequality in 18 th century Murcia, a city in Mediterranean Spain. The historical income distribution of this region is relatively unknown, despite it having on of the highest urbanization rates in Europe in the pre-industrial era. We first use a census conducted in the 1750s which collected information on income and occupation. We then use this income information to conduct analyses of the income distribution in the 1730s and 1780s using censuses with information about the occupational distribution. We find large changes in the distribution of occupations across the censuses. We show that our results on inequality are sensitive to assumptions regarding household composition and within-occupation distribution of income, but not to the definition of household income.

La “Doña” è Mobile: The Role of Women in Social Mobility in a Pre-Modern Economy

“…The Enlightenment brought important structural changes to Spanish and Murcian society during the eighteenth century (Espín-Sánchez et al 2019). Bourbon reforms made social status more dependent on personal merit than heritage, especially during the reign of Charles III.…”

“…We investigate the role that fathers and mothers, independently, have in determining the status of their sons and daughters. Very little is known about inequality and social mobility in pre-industrial societies, especially for late-industrializing countries (Espín-Sánchez et al 2019;Alfani and Di Tullio 2019;Bengtsson et al 2017). While historians of the family have examined the topic, they have approached it in a less quantitative way, focusing instead on particular case studies and narrative evidence.…”

The blessing of the “year without summer”: Climatic and socioeconomic impact of the Krakatoa eruption (1883) in the south‐east of the Iberian Peninsula

“…The economy of the SIP until the middle of the twentieth century was peripheral because of its dedication to commercial agriculture and lack of technological development. This situation conditioned dominant types of crops (Espín‐Sánchez et al ., 2019). Wheat production, a staple for essential foods (bread), was historically insufficient to meet demand.…”

“…The climate in the study area (driest area with the most torrential rainfalls in the European Union) has led to a long history of social adaptation to climate changes in a struggle against droughts, floods, and heat (Gil‐Guirado et al ., 2019). This has created an economic system threatened by agricultural and subsistence crises (Espín‐Sánchez et al ., 2019). The data used enabled the application of robust statistical methodologies to analyse the effect of the eruption on the climate, and the effect of the eruption on the prices of the most commonly eaten cereals (wheat and barley).…”

INTERGENERATIONAL OCCUPATIONAL MOBILITY IN 19TH-CENTURY SPAIN (VALENCIA), 1841-1870

“… 1 In Spain, see Espín-Sánchez et al (2019), for Murcia, García-Montero (2020) and Brea-Martinez and Pujadas-Mora (2019) for Catalonia, Santiago-Caballero (2011) for Guadalajara, Fernández and Santiago-Caballero (2018) for Madrid, for Castile Nicolini and Ramos-Palencia (2016a, 2016b) and for a summary in Europe Alfani (2017; in press). …”