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English Agrarian Labor Productivity Rates Before the Black Death: A Case Study

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  • KARAKACILI, EONA

Abstract

It is often suggested that an agricultural revolution, currently defined as a rise in the output of arable workers, was a necessary precursor to industrialization and improved living standards. This article provides the first direct measurement of arable workers' average labor productivity for pre-industrial England. Rates are assessed for those production conditions that it is thought resulted in the lowest agrarian labor productivity rates in the pre-industrial period: c.1300–1348. The rates for English workers before the Black Death either surpassed or met the literature's best estimates for English workers until 1800, well after industrialization was underway.

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  • Karakacili, Eona, 2004. "English Agrarian Labor Productivity Rates Before the Black Death: A Case Study," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 64(1), pages 24-60, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:cup:jechis:v:64:y:2004:i:01:p:24-60_00
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Koyama, Mark, 2012. "The transformation of labor supply in the pre-industrial world," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 81(2), pages 505-523.
    2. Gregory Clark, 2005. "The Long March of History: Farm Wages, Population and Economic Growth, England 1209-1869," Working Papers 170, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    3. Thomas A. Garrett, 2009. "War And Pestilence As Labor Market Shocks: U.S. Manufacturing Wage Growth 1914–1919," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 47(4), pages 711-725, October.
    4. Vincent Delabastita & Sebastiaan Maes, 2020. "The Feudal Origins of Manorial Prosperity in 11th-century England," Working Papers 0190, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    5. Jacob L. Weisdorf, 2006. "From domestic manufacture to Industrial Revolution: long-run growth and agricultural development," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 58(2), pages 264-287, April.
    6. Paul Sharp & Jacob Weisdorf, 2007. "A Malthusian Model for all Seasons: A Theoretical Approach to Labour Input and Labour Surplus in Traditional Agriculture," Discussion Papers 07-19, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics.
    7. Mark Koyama, 2009. "The Price of Time and Labour Supply: From the Black Death to the Industrious Revolution," Oxford University Economic and Social History Series _078, Economics Group, Nuffield College, University of Oxford.
    8. Cormac Ó Gráda, 2019. "Economic History: «An Isthmus Joining Two Great Continents»?," Rivista di storia economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 1, pages 81-120.
    9. Gregory Clark, 2005. "The Long March of History: Farm Wages, Population and Economic Growth, England 1209-1869," Working Papers 540, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    10. Trevon D. Logan, 2022. "American Enslavement and the Recovery of Black Economic History," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 81-98, Spring.
    11. Karine Van Der Beek, 2010. "Political fragmentation, competition, and investment decisions: the medieval grinding industry in Ponthieu, France, 1150–1250," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 63(3), pages 664-687, August.
    12. Mark Koyama, 2009. "The Price of Time and Labour Supply: From the Black Death to the Industrious Revolution," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _078, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    13. Daniel Barbezat, 2011. "The Economic History of European Growth," Chapters, in: Gail M. Hoyt & KimMarie McGoldrick (ed.), International Handbook on Teaching and Learning Economics, chapter 51, Edward Elgar Publishing.

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