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Economic Inequality in Preindustrial Germany, ca. 1300–1850

Author

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  • Alfani, Guido
  • Gierok, Victoria
  • Schaff, Felix

Abstract

This article provides an overview of wealth inequality in Germany during 1300–1850, introducing a novel database. We document four alternating phases of inequality decline and growth. The Black Death (1347–1352) led to inequality decline, until about 1450. Thereafter, inequality rose steadily. The Thirty Years’ War (1618–1648) and the 1627–1629 plague triggered a second phase of inequality reduction. This distinguishes Germany from other European areas where inequality grew monotonically. Inequality growth resumed from about 1700, well before the Industrial Revolution. Our findings offer new material to current debates on the determinants of inequality change in western societies, past and present.

Suggested Citation

  • Alfani, Guido & Gierok, Victoria & Schaff, Felix, 2022. "Economic Inequality in Preindustrial Germany, ca. 1300–1850," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(1), pages 87-125, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:82:y:2022:i:1:p:87-125_3
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    Cited by:

    1. Giovanni Federico & Alessandro Nuvolari & Michelangelo Vasta, 2023. "Inequality in Pre‐Industrial Europe (1260–1850): New Evidence From the Labor Share," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 69(2), pages 347-375, June.
    2. repec:osf:socarx:5y9wf_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Victoria Gierok, 2023. "The Thirty Years’ War and the Decline of Urban Germany," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _210, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    4. Kumon, Yuzuru, 2022. "How Landownership Equality Created a Low Wage Society: Pre-industrial Japan, 1600-1870," IAST Working Papers 22-138, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
    5. Alfani, Guido & Sardone, Sergio, 2025. "Long-term trends in income and wealth inequality in southern Italy. The Kingdom of Naples (Apulia), sixteenth to eighteenth centuries," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Felix Schaff, 2022. "Urban Political Structure and Inequality: Political Economy Lessons from Early Modern German Cities," Working Papers 0225, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    7. Felix S. F. Schaff, 2025. "The unequal spirit of the Protestant Reformation: particularism and wealth distribution in early modern Germany," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 30(3), pages 417-460, September.
    8. Remi Jedwab & Noel D. Johnson & Mark Koyama, 2022. "The Economic Impact of the Black Death," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 132-178, March.
    9. Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Marc Prat, 2022. "Pre-industrial inequality in Catalonia," UB School of Economics Working Papers 2022/430, University of Barcelona School of Economics.
    10. Naudé, Wim & Nagler, Paula, 2022. "The Ossified Economy: The Case of Germany, 1870-2020," IZA Discussion Papers 15607, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    11. repec:osf:socarx:b8jgn_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Alfani, Guido & Gierok, Victoria & Schaff, Felix, 2025. "Poverty in Germany from the Black Death until the Beginning of Industrialization," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    13. Adrián Palacios-Mateo, 2024. "Explaining pre-industrial inequality in Navarre and Aragon in the mid-19th century," Documentos de Trabajo de la Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria 2402, Sociedad de Estudios de Historia Agraria.
    14. Schaff, Felix S.F., 2023. "Warfare and Economic Inequality: Evidence from Preindustrial Germany (c. 1400-1800)," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    15. Erfurth, Philipp, 2024. "Unequal unification? Income inequality and unification in nineteenth century Italy and Germany," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    16. Alfani, Guido & Di Tullio, Matteo & Fochesato, Mattia, 2025. "Wealth Inequality and Epidemics in the Republic of Venice (1400–1800)," SocArXiv 4tny3_v1, Center for Open Science.
    17. Suss, Joel, 2023. "Measuring local, salient economic inequality in the UK," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 117884, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Kumon, Yuzuru, 2021. "The Deep Roots of Inequality," IAST Working Papers 21-125, Institute for Advanced Study in Toulouse (IAST).
    19. Guido Alfani & Hector García Montero, 2022. "Wealth inequality in pre‐industrial England: A long‐term view (late thirteenth to sixteenth centuries)," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(4), pages 1314-1348, November.
    20. Thilo N. H. Albers & Felix Kersting & Timo Stieglitz, 2023. "Industrialization, Returns, Inequality," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 462, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    21. Julio Martinez-Galarraga & Marc Prat, 2025. "Inequality in rural Catalonia in the early eighteenth century," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 19(1), pages 195-247, January.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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