Levnadsstandarden speglad i bouppteckningar : En undersökning av två metoder att använda svenska bouppteckningar för en levnadsstandardsundersökning samt en internationell jämförelse
Hallén, Per () (Department of Economic History, School of Business, Economics and Law, Göteborg University)
Abstract
The standard of living in the pre-industrial world is an interesting but challenging subject. No single method alone can solve the problem. In order to grasp the standard of living several methods must be used, and work must be done across discipline borderlines. In this paper I discuss methods for using post mortal inventories (estate inventories) in order to indicate the material standard of living in Sweden. Similar methods have been used in France, Great Britain and North America. To adapt these methods to Swedish conditions have been the main focus of the paper. The first method tested here uses the valuation of all objects stated in the post mortal inventory (not including houses and farms). This method had previously been tested on English and North American inventories. All values in the Swedish material have been converted to British pounds in order to facilitate comparisons. The second method tested uses the objects in the estate inventory to create an index of the material standard of living. This index was first used in France and later in Canada. Some preliminary results in this work indicate that Swedish farmers by 1750 were well below English and French farmers in material standard of living. However, during the fifty years that followed a noticeable change took place.
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Length: 33 pages Date of creation: 08 Nov 2007 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:hhs:gunhis:0009
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Find related papers by JEL classification: N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth - - - General, International, or Comparative N50 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - General, International, or Comparative N90 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - General, International, or Comparative
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