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Measuring Ancient Inequality

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Author Info
Jeffrey G. Williamson () (Harvard University and NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH)
Branko Milanovic
Peter H. Lindert

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Abstract

Is inequality largely the result of the Industrial Revolution? Or, were pre-industrial incomes and life expectancies as unequal as they are today? For want of sufficient data, these questions have not yet been answered. This paper infers inequality for 14 ancient, pre-industrial societies using what are known as social tables, stretching from the Roman Empire 14 AD, to Byzantium in 1000, to England in 1688, to Nueva España around 1790, to China in 1880 and to British India in 1947. It applies two new concepts in making those assessments -- what we call the inequality possibility frontier and the inequality extraction ratio. Rather than simply offering measures of actual inequality, we compare the latter with the maximum feasible inequality (or surplus) that could have been extracted by the elite. The results, especially when compared with modern poor countries, give new insights in to the connection between inequality and economic development in the very long run.

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Paper provided by Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC) in its series Working Papers with number 08-06.

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Length: 86 pages
Date of creation: 2008
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Handle: RePEc:afc:wpaper:08-06

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
D3 - Microeconomics - - Distribution
N3 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Income, and Wealth
O1 - Economic Development, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development

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  1. Branko Milanovic, 2006. "An Estimate Of Average Income And Inequality In Byzantium Around Year 1000," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 52(3), pages 449-470, 09. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Paul Collier & Anke Hoeffler, 2004. "Greed and grievance in civil war," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 56(4), pages 563-595, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  3. Gary S. Becker & Tomas J. Philipson & Rodrigo R. Soares, 2005. "The Quantity and Quality of Life and the Evolution of World Inequality," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 95(1), pages 277-291, March. [Downloadable!]
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  4. Lindert, Peter H. & Williamson, Jeffrey G., 1982. "Revising England's social tables 1688-1812," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 385-408, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  5. Kuznets, Simon, 1976. " Demographic Aspects of the Size Distribution of Income: An Exploratory Essay," Economic Development and Cultural Change, University of Chicago Press, vol. 25(1), pages 1-94, October.
  6. Deininger, Klaus & Squire, Lyn, 1996. "A New Data Set Measuring Income Inequality," World Bank Economic Review, Oxford University Press, vol. 10(3), pages 565-91, September.
  7. Goldsmith, Raymond W, 1984. "An Estimate of the Size and Structure of the National Product of the Early Roman Empire," Review of Income and Wealth, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 30(3), pages 263-88, September.
  8. Thomas Piketty, 2005. "Top Income Shares in the Long Run: An Overview," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 3(2-3), pages 382-392, 04/05. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Luis Bertola & Cecilia Castelnovo & Javier Rodriguez & Henry Willebald, 2008. "Income distribution in the Latin American Southern Cone during the first globalization boom, ca: 1870-1920," Working Papers in Economic History wp08-05, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Historia Económica e Instituciones. [Downloadable!]
  2. Johan Fourie & Dieter von Fintel, 2009. "The dynamics of inequality in a newly settled, pre-industrial society: The case of the Cape Colony," Working Papers 17/2009, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  3. Jordi Guilera Rafecas, 2008. "Top income shares in Portugal over the twentieth century," Working Papers in Economics 195, Universitat de Barcelona. Espai de Recerca en Economia. [Downloadable!]
  4. Guillaume Daudin, 2007. "Domestic Trade and Market Size in Late Eighteen Century France," Documents de Travail de l'OFCE 2007-35, Observatoire Francais des Conjonctures Economiques (OFCE). [Downloadable!]
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