Wage Rates and Living Standards in Pre-Industrial England

Woodward, Donald

doi:10.1093/past/91.1.28

Cited by 33 publications

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“…Undoubtedly household income will have frequently exceeded the wage incomes of the male breadwinners (Woodward 1981;Kaelble and Thomas 1991;de Vries and van der Woude 1997). Rather than generalizing from this experience to the urban populace at large, this section will question how falling real wages affected the relative position of building craftsmen within the urban society.…”

Section: In Search Of a Benchmark: Building Craftsmen And Wage Labourersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond building craftsmen. Economic growth and living standards in the sixteenth-century Low Countries: the case of 's-Hertogenbosch (1500-1560)

Blondé

Hanus

2010

European Review of Economic History

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Economic historians are increasingly aware of the divergence between the development of real wages and GDP per capita in pre-industrial Europe, even in affluent urbanized societies with high wage levels such as the sixteenth-century Low Countries. This article offers an empirical answer to this alleged paradox by merging living standards and real wages with income distributions in a case study of sixteenth-century 's-Hertogenbosch. It provides evidence for an optimistic reading of the living standards of this era despite the modest performance of the urban economy and a strong decline in real wages. The rich sources of 's-Hertogenbosch were instrumental in reaching this conclusion, as they offer proof that the drop in wage labourers' purchasing power was paralleled by a marked decline in social position. As such, their income experience turns out to be surprisingly atypical, and does little to capture the strong resilience of the majority of the urban populace in the face of the early price revolution.1 All empirical material presented is, unless otherwise stated, derived from the city accounts of 's-Hertogenbosch: City Archives 's-Hertogenbosch, Old City Archive (Oud Stadsarchief), numbers 1350-1420. Monetary amounts are expressed in the local currency, the (Carolus)gulden or florin and stuivers (or patard), whereby 20 stuivers equals one gulden. The stuiver was worth 2d. groot Flemish, six florins equalled one pond or pound groot. The first monetary value in the text will be given in (local) Brabantine and Flemish currency, in the remainder only guldens and stuivers are recorded.

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Section: In Search Of a Benchmark: Building Craftsmen And Wage Labourersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond building craftsmen. Economic growth and living standards in the sixteenth-century Low Countries: the case of 's-Hertogenbosch (1500-1560)

Blondé

Hanus

2010

European Review of Economic History

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“…However scholars are in disagreement over whether these households were below or above the middle of the English income distribution for their period or whether the reported income understates or overstates the true household income. Although, information on the size distribution of income before World War I is sparse, that which is available can be used to locate households in nutrient distributions (Crafts 1981;Woodward 1981;Shammas 1983;Shammas 1984).…”

Section: Eleven Thesesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Conquest of High Mortality and Hunger in Europe and America: Timing and Mechanisms

Fogel¹

1990

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“…The revolution brought about a better living standard for the people at large but at the same time put more strain on our environment [2, 3]. Coal-fired steam engines to drive transport and machinery, together with iron production and mechanical and thermal metal processing, led the way in both respects [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Material research for environmental sustainability in Thailand: current trends

Niranatlumpong

Ramangul

Dulyaprapan

et al. 2015

Science and Technology of Advanced Materials

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This article covers recent developments of material research in Thailand with a focus on environmental sustainability. Data on Thailand’s consumption and economic growth are briefly discussed to present a relevant snapshot of its economy. A selection of research work is classified into three topics, namely, (a) resource utilization, (b) material engineering and manufacturing, and (c) life cycle efficiency. Material technologies have been developed and implemented to reduce the consumption of materials, energy, and other valuable resources, thus reducing the burden we place on our ecological system. At the same time, product life cycle study allows us to understand the extent of the environmental impact we impart to our planet.

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Wage Rates and Living Standards in Pre-Industrial England

Cited by 33 publications

References 0 publications

Beyond building craftsmen. Economic growth and living standards in the sixteenth-century Low Countries: the case of 's-Hertogenbosch (1500-1560)

Beyond building craftsmen. Economic growth and living standards in the sixteenth-century Low Countries: the case of 's-Hertogenbosch (1500-1560)

The Conquest of High Mortality and Hunger in Europe and America: Timing and Mechanisms

Material research for environmental sustainability in Thailand: current trends

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