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Grain prices and mortality: A note on 'La Michodiere's Law'

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  • Jean-Michel Chevet
  • Cormac O Grada

Abstract

In a postscript to his Recherches sur la population (1766), political arithmetician Louis Messance made the case for a positive association mortality and the price of wheat. The true author of the postscript was probably Jean-Baptiste Francois de la Michodiere (1720 - 97), Messance's mentor and employer. The calculations given in this paper offer tempered support for what is dubbed 'La Michodiere's law'. There was indeed a correlation between prices and mortality in early eighteenth-century France; but La Michodiere's own and other data imply that even then it was weaker and less mechanical than implied by some of his successors.

Suggested Citation

  • Jean-Michel Chevet & Cormac O Grada, 2006. "Grain prices and mortality: A note on 'La Michodiere's Law'," The European Journal of the History of Economic Thought, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(2), pages 183-194.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:eujhet:v:13:y:2006:i:2:p:183-194
    DOI: 10.1080/09672560600708086
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    1. repec:cai:popine:popu_p1998_53n1-2_0270 is not listed on IDEAS
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