Wages, prices and living standards in a growing economy. The case of Boston, Massachusetts

2024/06/19 by Luis Felipe Zegarra · 1 voice
Economics, Econometrics and Finance · Health Professions · #Employment and Welfare Studies #Housing, Finance, and Neoliberalism

paper · pdf · doi:10.1344/rhiihr.43103

openalex publication_date 2024/06/19 · openalex created_date 2024/06/20 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/18

Abstract

This study analyzes the living standards of laborers in Boston, Massachusetts in 1785-1900. Using a linear programming model, I find the food basket that provided a balanced nutrition at the lowest possible cost. Then, I estimate the welfare ratio of laborers. The evidence shows that laborers in Boston earned enough to cover their basic needs, and that their real wages increased in the 19th century. The results also show that the welfare ratio of laborers in Boston was higher than the ratios of several European cities. Boston can be considered a high-wage economy during the late 18th and 19th centuries.

Citations

• The lure of aggregates and the pitfalls of the patriarchal perspective: a critique of the high wage economy interpretation of the British industrial revolution
• The Great Divergence in European Wages and Prices from the Middle Ages to the First World War
• Wages, prices, and living standards in China, 1738–1925: in comparison with Europe, Japan, and India
• Household consumption patterns and the consumer price index, England, 1260–1869

Discussions

• We are proud to present the leading article of our new issue “Wages, prices and living standards in a growing economy. The case of Boston, Massachusetts” by Luis Felipe Zegarra (Pontificia Universidad [bsky, 2 points, 1 comments]

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