Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16847
Authors: Gregory Clark; Maximilian P. McComb
Abstract: If pre-industrial England was a Malthusian society, we should observe trendless living standards before 1800. Recent studies have claimed major gains in living standards 1270-1800 in northwest Europe, including England, implying the Malthusian era there had ended before 1350. Here we refute the claims that medieval English living standards were significantly lower than in 1800 using a variety of new metrics: the high value of food consumed per day when workers were fed at work, the high animal product share of the medieval diet, human heights, housing quality, and factor shares in agriculture. These measures all show the continued viability of the Malthusian interpretation: the medieval world was often richer than England of 1800.
Keywords: Economic Growth; Living Standards; Work Days
JEL Codes: N13; N33
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| medieval living standards did not exhibit significant upward trend (N93) | persistent Malthusian state (J11) |
| cost of feeding a worker in medieval period was lower relative to earnings (J31) | no substantial improvement in living standards (P17) |
| skeletal remains from medieval period indicating heights comparable to those of 1800 (N93) | no sign of gain in living standards (P17) |
| high value of food consumed per day (D12) | no sign of gain in living standards (P17) |
| high share of animal products in medieval diet (B11) | no sign of gain in living standards (P17) |
| housing quality in medieval period (N93) | no sign of gain in living standards (P17) |
| agricultural factor shares (Q15) | no sign of gain in living standards (P17) |