Prices, wages and fertility in pre-industrial England

Marc Patrick Brag Klemp

doi:10.1007/s11698-011-0072-5

Prices, wages and fertility in pre-industrial England

Marc Patrick Brag Klemp

Økonomisk Institut

9 Citationer (Scopus)

Abstract

To shed light on the economic-demographic mechanisms operating in the epoch of pre-industrial economic stagnation, a two-sector Malthusian model is formulated in terms of a cointegrated vector autoregressive model on error correction form. The model allows for both agricultural product wages and relative prices to affect fertility. The model is estimated using new data for the pre-industrial period in England, and the analysis reveals a strong, positive effect of agricultural wages as well as a nonnegative effect of real agricultural prices on fertility. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that there is strongly decreasing returns to scale with respect to labour in the agricultural sector and approximately constant returns to scale in the manufacturing sector. The analysis provides evidence in favour of the usual Malthusian model, as invoked by unified growth theories such as e.g. Galor and Weil (Am Econ Rev 90:806–828, 2000).

Originalsprog	Dansk
Tidsskrift	Cliometrica
Udgave nummer	6
Sider (fra-til)	63-77
ISSN	1863-2505
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s11698-011-0072-5
Status	Udgivet - jan. 2012

Adgang til dokumentet

10.1007/s11698-011-0072-5

Citationsformater

@article{e9549cd585544bc0a75eff569dda13d5,

title = "Prices, wages and fertility in pre-industrial England",

abstract = "To shed light on the economic-demographic mechanisms operating in the epoch of pre-industrial economic stagnation, a two-sector Malthusian model is formulated in terms of a cointegrated vector autoregressive model on error correction form. The model allows for both agricultural product wages and relative prices to affect fertility. The model is estimated using new data for the pre-industrial period in England, and the analysis reveals a strong, positive effect of agricultural wages as well as a nonnegative effect of real agricultural prices on fertility. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that there is strongly decreasing returns to scale with respect to labour in the agricultural sector and approximately constant returns to scale in the manufacturing sector. The analysis provides evidence in favour of the usual Malthusian model, as invoked by unified growth theories such as e.g. Galor and Weil (Am Econ Rev 90:806–828, 2000).",

author = "Klemp, {Marc Patrick Brag}",

note = "JEL Classification C32, N3, O1",

year = "2012",

month = jan,

doi = "10.1007/s11698-011-0072-5",

language = "Dansk",

pages = "63--77",

journal = "Cliometrica",

issn = "1863-2505",

publisher = "Springer",

number = "6",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Prices, wages and fertility in pre-industrial England

AU - Klemp, Marc Patrick Brag

N1 - JEL Classification C32, N3, O1

PY - 2012/1

Y1 - 2012/1

N2 - To shed light on the economic-demographic mechanisms operating in the epoch of pre-industrial economic stagnation, a two-sector Malthusian model is formulated in terms of a cointegrated vector autoregressive model on error correction form. The model allows for both agricultural product wages and relative prices to affect fertility. The model is estimated using new data for the pre-industrial period in England, and the analysis reveals a strong, positive effect of agricultural wages as well as a nonnegative effect of real agricultural prices on fertility. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that there is strongly decreasing returns to scale with respect to labour in the agricultural sector and approximately constant returns to scale in the manufacturing sector. The analysis provides evidence in favour of the usual Malthusian model, as invoked by unified growth theories such as e.g. Galor and Weil (Am Econ Rev 90:806–828, 2000).

AB - To shed light on the economic-demographic mechanisms operating in the epoch of pre-industrial economic stagnation, a two-sector Malthusian model is formulated in terms of a cointegrated vector autoregressive model on error correction form. The model allows for both agricultural product wages and relative prices to affect fertility. The model is estimated using new data for the pre-industrial period in England, and the analysis reveals a strong, positive effect of agricultural wages as well as a nonnegative effect of real agricultural prices on fertility. Furthermore, it is demonstrated that there is strongly decreasing returns to scale with respect to labour in the agricultural sector and approximately constant returns to scale in the manufacturing sector. The analysis provides evidence in favour of the usual Malthusian model, as invoked by unified growth theories such as e.g. Galor and Weil (Am Econ Rev 90:806–828, 2000).

U2 - 10.1007/s11698-011-0072-5

DO - 10.1007/s11698-011-0072-5

M3 - Tidsskriftartikel

SN - 1863-2505

SP - 63

EP - 77

JO - Cliometrica

JF - Cliometrica

IS - 6

ER -