Methods in Premodern Economic History by Ulla Kypta & Julia Bruch & Tanja Skambraks

Author:Ulla Kypta & Julia Bruch & Tanja Skambraks
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783030146603
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

The database of this seminal paper has been reviewed critically. Some of its series seem to run too smoothly, given that market integration was very low and increased only slowly (Volckart and Wolf 2006). Either the reported prices were not actual market prices , but determined by local authorities, or they have been interpolated to bridge gaps in the raw data. Nevertheless, Allen’s study serves as a benchmark for the construction of flexible, representative baskets of goods which should include basic foods, textiles, housing and energy amongst other items for a specific place, time and social group. Allen’s basket of goods and the number of calories he assumes for his so-called poverty-line consumption have been critically discussed in recent decades: Jane Humphries, for example, has argued that people who do physical work need more calories in order to survive. Other impulses, especially on the composition of the basket of goods, came from Muldrew’s study (Muldrew 2011). And we should not forget the pioneering study published by Saalfeld as early as 1970, which has remained largely unnoticed in the recent international debate (Saalfeld 1970).

On a more general level, the construction of real wage series might give clues as to how far modern economic concepts might be implemented in a premodern setting. It is necessary to discuss which factors deviate and whether they were time-specific, as without a doubt “[wages and prices ] bear on such fundamental issues as the pace of economic development […] and the standard of living”.

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