Working Paper: NBER ID: w23897
Authors: Trevor Burnard; Laura Panza; Jeffrey G. Williamson
Abstract: This paper provides the first quantitative assessment of Jamaican standards of living and income inequality around 1774. To this purpose we compute welfare ratios for a range of occupations and build a social table. We find that the slave colony had extremely high living costs, which rose steeply during the American War of Independence, and low standards of living, particularly for its enslaved population. Our results also show that due to its extreme poverty surrounding extreme wealth Jamaica was the most unequal place in the pre-modern world. Furthermore, all of these characteristics applied to the free population alone.
Keywords: Jamaica; living costs; income inequality; slavery; economic history
JEL Codes: N16; N36; O54
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| High living costs (I31) | Low standards of living (I31) |
| Extreme wealth of a small elite (D31) | High levels of inequality (D31) |
| Reliance on imported foodstuffs (Q17) | High living costs (I31) |
| High living costs (I31) | Extreme poverty among enslaved individuals (I32) |
| Plantation economy (N56) | High living costs (I31) |
| High income levels (unequal distribution) (D31) | Poverty among a significant portion of the population (I32) |
| Plantation system (P13) | Exacerbation of inequality (I24) |
| Jamaica's extreme poverty (I32) | High living costs (I31) |