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Inequality in the very long run: Malthus, Kuznets, and Ohlin

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  • Peter H. Lindert

    (University of California-Davis)

  • Jeffrey G. Williamson

    (Harvard University)

Abstract

What happened to the inequality of real income and wealth before, during, and after the Industrial Revolution? Just as the usual Industrial Revolution era (1750-1850) has been revised by historians of economic growth, so too the articles in this issue follow the lead of Van Zanden (1995) in opening up a new inequality history for earlier eras and other continents. Three of them offer new evidence on European wealth and income inequality movements in pre-industrial and industrial epochs. The fourth offers a new perspective on Latin American experience since the late nineteenth century, reporting a twentieth-century experience quite unlike the Great Leveling that Kuznets and others saw in Europe and the USA from World War 1 to the 1970s.

Suggested Citation

  • Peter H. Lindert & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2017. "Inequality in the very long run: Malthus, Kuznets, and Ohlin," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 11(3), pages 289-295, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:cliomt:v:11:y:2017:i:3:d:10.1007_s11698-016-0153-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11698-016-0153-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Mikołaj Malinowski & Jan Luiten Zanden, 2017. "Income and its distribution in preindustrial Poland," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 11(3), pages 375-404, September.
    2. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Power and Plenty: Trade, War and the World Economy in the Second Millennium (Preface)," Trinity Economics Papers tep0107, Trinity College Dublin, Department of Economics.
    3. Lindert, Peter H. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1982. "Revising England's social tables 1688-1812," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 385-408, October.
    4. Mokyr, Joel, 2005. "Long-Term Economic Growth and the History of Technology," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 17, pages 1113-1180, Elsevier.
    5. Branko Milanovic & Peter H. Lindert & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2011. "Pre‐Industrial Inequality," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(551), pages 255-272, March.
    6. Broadberry,Stephen & Campbell,Bruce M. S. & Klein,Alexander & Overton,Mark & van Leeuwen,Bas, 2015. "British Economic Growth, 1270–1870," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107070783.
    7. Ellen Hillbom & Jutta Bolt, 2015. "Changing income inequality and structural transformation: The case of Botswana 1921-2010," WIDER Working Paper Series 028, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    8. Osamu Saito, 2015. "Growth and inequality in the great and little divergence debate: a Japanese perspective," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 68(2), pages 399-419, May.
    9. Lindert, Peter H. & Nafziger, Steven, 2014. "Russian Inequality on the Eve of Revolution," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 74(3), pages 767-798, September.
    10. Peter H. Lindert & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2016. "Unequal Gains: American Growth and Inequality since 1700," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10670.
    11. Williamson, Jeffrey G., 2002. "Land, Labor, And Globalization In The Third World, 1870–1940," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(1), pages 55-85, March.
    12. Lindert, Peter H. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1983. "Reinterpreting Britain's social tables, 1688-1913," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 94-109, January.
    13. Hoffman, Philip T. & Jacks, David S. & Levin, Patricia A. & Lindert, Peter H., 2002. "Real Inequality In Europe Since 1500," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 62(2), pages 322-355, June.
    14. Williamson, Jeffrey G., 2011. "Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262015158, December.
    15. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Introduction to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium," Introductory Chapters, in: Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.
    16. Gregory Clark, 2007. "Introduction to A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World," Introductory Chapters, in: A Farewell to Alms: A Brief Economic History of the World, Princeton University Press.
    17. Jan Luiten Zanden & Joerg Baten & Peter Foldvari & Bas Leeuwen, 2014. "The Changing Shape of Global Inequality 1820–2000; Exploring a New Dataset," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 60(2), pages 279-297, June.
    18. Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2011. "Trade and Poverty: When the Third World Fell Behind," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262015153, December.
    19. Ronald Findlay & Kevin H. O'Rourke, 2007. "Preface to Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium," Introductory Chapters, in: Power and Plenty: Trade, War, and the World Economy in the Second Millennium, Princeton University Press.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Pim Zwart, 2022. "Inequality in late colonial Indonesia: new evidence on regional differences," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 16(1), pages 175-211, January.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Inequality; Income inequality; Wealth inequality;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N10 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • N23 - Economic History - - Financial Markets and Institutions - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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