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Poverty in early modern Europe: New approaches to old problems

Author

Listed:
  • Guido Alfani

    (Bocconi University)

  • Francesco Ammannati

    (University of Florence)

  • Wouter Ryckbosch

    (Vrije Universiteit Brussel)

Abstract

Earlier research on poverty failed to provide us with consistent measures of its prevalence across space and time. This is due to the limitations of the available sources and to the difficulty of applying to them the poverty definitions of modern social science. This article discusses different possible approaches to poverty measurement and the problems encountered when applying them to historical sources. Thereafter it proposes a way to measure absolute and, more importantly, relative poverty which makes good use of the information made available by recent research on inequality. We detect a long-run tendency towards an increase in the prevalence of poverty, both in the South and in the North of Europe. This trend was only temporarily interrupted by large-scale plague and other catastrophes, although the Black Death had stronger and more persistent poverty-reducing effects. Our approach, which this article applies mostly to Italy, the Low Countries and partially Germany and other areas, could be used for even broader international comparisons.

Suggested Citation

  • Guido Alfani & Francesco Ammannati & Wouter Ryckbosch, 2022. "Poverty in early modern Europe: New approaches to old problems," Working Papers 0222, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
  • Handle: RePEc:hes:wpaper:0222
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    File URL: https://www.ehes.org/wp/EHES_222.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Guido Alfani, 2022. "Epidemics, Inequality, and Poverty in Preindustrial and Early Industrial Times," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 60(1), pages 3-40, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Poverty; economic inequality; social inequality; wealth concentration; Middle Ages; early modern period; Italy; Low Countries; Germany; plague; Black Death;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I30 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - General
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • J11 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials

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