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Variations in the price and quality of English grain, 1750-1914:quantitative evidence and empirical implications

Author

Listed:
  • Brunt, Liam

    (Dept. of Economics, Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration)

  • Cannon, Edmund

    (University of Bristol)

Abstract

Interpretation of historic grain price data may be hazardous owing to systematic grain quality variation – both cross sectionally and over varying time horizons (intra-year, inter-year, long run). We use the English wheat market, 1750-1914, as an example to quantify this issue. First, we show that bushel weight approximates grain quality. Then we show that cross sectional and intra-year variation are substantial and problematic, generating erroneous inference regarding market integration. Long run variation is significant, due to sharply declining international quality differentials, and this impacts estimated cost of living changes. By contrast, inter-year variation is smaller and controlled for more easily.

Suggested Citation

  • Brunt, Liam & Cannon, Edmund, 2015. "Variations in the price and quality of English grain, 1750-1914:quantitative evidence and empirical implications," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 6/2015, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:nhheco:2015_006
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    Cited by:

    1. Vincent Geloso, 2024. "Does the conquest explain Quebec’s historical poverty? The economic consequences of 1760," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 18(3), pages 905-938, September.
    2. Branko Boskovic & Linda Nøstbakken, 2016. "How do Land Markets Anticipate Regulatory Change? Evidence from Canadian Conservation Policy," CESifo Working Paper Series 5956, CESifo.
    3. John E. Murray & Javier Silvestre, 2020. "Integration in European coal markets, 1833–1913," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(3), pages 668-702, August.
    4. Laura Wurm, 2025. "Strangling speculation: the effect of the 1903 Viennese futures trading ban," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 19(2), pages 343-373, May.
    5. Bjørn L. Basberg, 2017. "Keynes, Trouton and the Hector Whaling Company. A personal and professional relationship," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(4), pages 471-496, May.
    6. Liam Brunt & Edmund Cannon, 2022. "English farmers’ wheat storage and sales in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 75(3), pages 932-959, August.
    7. Basberg, Bjørn L., 2015. "Commercial and Economic Aspects of Antarctic Exploration From the Earliest Discoveries into the 19th Century," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 13/2015, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.
    8. Wurm, Laura, 2021. "Strangling speculation: The effect of the 1903 Viennese futures trading ban," QUCEH Working Paper Series 21-09, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    9. Sandmo, Agnar, 2015. "The Public Economics of Climate Change," Discussion Paper Series in Economics 27/2015, Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • N01 - Economic History - - General - - - Development of the Discipline: Historiographical; Sources and Methods
    • N50 - Economic History - - Agriculture, Natural Resources, Environment and Extractive Industries - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • Q13 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Agriculture - - - Agricultural Markets and Marketing; Cooperatives; Agribusiness

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