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Spanish subsistence wages and the Little Divergence in Europe, 1500–1800

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  • Ernesto López Losa
  • Santiago Piquero Zarauz

Abstract

This paper suggests an alternative view of Europe’s Little Divergence in real wages. It presents a new dataset of prices and wages for Spain and proposes a new way of measuring the cost of bare-bones subsistence. The substitution of brown-bread prices for grain prices in the baskets transforms the scale and chronology of the divergence between North-western Europe and Spain. The results show that it began later and that unskilled subsistence wages in London and Amsterdam were significantly lower than those calculated by the canonical model, which would nuance the “high-wage” hypothesis.

Suggested Citation

  • Ernesto López Losa & Santiago Piquero Zarauz, 2021. "Spanish subsistence wages and the Little Divergence in Europe, 1500–1800," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 25(1), pages 59-84.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:ereveh:v:25:y:2021:i:1:p:59-84.
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1093/ereh/heaa005
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    Cited by:

    1. Jakob Molinder & Christopher Pihl, 2023. "Women's work and wages in the sixteenth century and Sweden's position in the ‘little divergence’," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(1), pages 145-168, February.
    2. Sara Horrell, 2023. "Household consumption patterns and the consumer price index, England, 1260–1869," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1023-1050, November.
    3. Palma, Nuno & Reis, Jaime & Rodrigues, Lisbeth, 2023. "Historical gender discrimination does not explain comparative Western European development: evidence from Portugal, 1300-1900," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).

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