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Migration and Inequality in Germany 1870-1913

Author

Listed:
  • Grant, Oliver

    (Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Nuffield College, Oxford)

Abstract

Migration and Inequality in Germany 1870-1913 presents a new view of German history in the late nineteenth century. Dr Grant argues that many of the problems of Imperial Germany were temporary ones produced by the strain of rapid industrialisation. Drawing on the tools of development economics he argues that Germany passed through a labour surplus phase as desribed by the Lewis Model. This period came to an end around 1900, creating more favourable conditions for political reform and social reconciliation. But Germany's progress to full political and economic maturity was derailed at the outbreak of war in 1914. Dr Grant bases his argument on an analysis of the economic and demographic forces driving migration in nineteenth-century Germany. High rural-urban migration led to the rapid expansion of German cities. The main factors driving this were social and economic change in the countryside and the process of the demographic transition. The release of surplus labour onto urban labour markets held back wage increases and led to an increase in inequality. The German economy behaved in a way which seemed to bear out the predictions of Karl Marx and this contributed to the appeal of Marxist ideas and the rise of the social democratic vote. However, this was a temporary phase. The labour surplus period was largely over by 1900. The rise in inequality which had begun in the 1820s came to an end, and inequality began to fall. Contrary to received wisdom, Germany was not on the brink of a general socio-economic crisis in 1914; instead it was moving away from one. However, the political system failed to take advantage of this opportunity, and Germany's dependence on imported food and raw materials led to a strategic crisis which combined disastrously with internal political problems.

Suggested Citation

  • Grant, Oliver, 2005. "Migration and Inequality in Germany 1870-1913," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199276561.
  • Handle: RePEc:oxp:obooks:9780199276561
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Alfani, Guido & Gierok, Victoria & Schaff, Felix, 2022. "Economic Inequality in Preindustrial Germany, ca. 1300–1850," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 82(1), pages 87-125, March.
    2. Lehmann, Sibylle H., 2010. "The German Elections in the 1870s: Why Germany Turned from Liberalism to Protectionism," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 70(1), pages 146-178, March.
    3. Bräuer, Richard & Hungerland, Wolf-Fabian & Kersting, Felix, 2021. "Trade Shocks, Labor Markets and Elections in the First Globalization," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 285, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    4. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," CEP Discussion Papers dp1628, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    5. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between Communism and Capitalism: Long-Term Inequality in Poland, 1892- 2015," World Inequality Lab Working Papers hal-02876995, HAL.
    6. Paweł Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2021. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 26(2), pages 187-239, June.
    7. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2017. "Top Incomes during Wars, Communism and Capitalism: Poland 1892-2015," Working Papers halshs-02797835, HAL.
    8. Mares, Isabela & Queralt, Didac, 2020. "Fiscal innovation in nondemocratic regimes: Elites and the adoption of the prussian income taxes of the 1890s⁎," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    9. Liam Brunt & Cecilia García-Peñalosa, 2022. "Urbanisation and the Onset of Modern Economic Growth," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 132(642), pages 512-545.
    10. Annemarie Steidl & Engelbert Stockhammer, 2007. "Coming and leaving. Internal mobility in late Imperial Austria," Department of Economics Working Papers wuwp107, Vienna University of Economics and Business, Department of Economics.
    11. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2017. "Top Incomes during Wars, Communism and Capitalism: Poland 1892-2015," World Inequality Lab Working Papers halshs-02797835, HAL.
    12. Kersting, Felix & Wohnsiedler, Iris & Wolf, Nikolaus, 2020. "Weber Revisited: The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Nationalism," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 80(3), pages 710-745, September.
    13. Kersting, Felix, 2017. "Coal and Blood: Industrialization and the Rise of Nationalism in Prussia before 1914," Rationality and Competition Discussion Paper Series 52, CRC TRR 190 Rationality and Competition.
    14. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102814, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    15. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2021. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892–2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 110221, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    16. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2017. "Top Incomes during Wars, Communism and Capitalism: Poland 1892-2015," PSE Working Papers halshs-02797835, HAL.
    17. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2019. "Between communism and capitalism: long-term inequality in Poland, 1892-2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 102834, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    18. Christian Lumpe & Claudia Lumpe, 2017. "German emigration via Bremen in the Weimar Republic (1920–1932)," MAGKS Papers on Economics 201753, Philipps-Universität Marburg, Faculty of Business Administration and Economics, Department of Economics (Volkswirtschaftliche Abteilung).
    19. Bukowski, Pawel & Novokmet, Filip, 2017. "Top incomes during wars, communism and capitalism: Poland 1892-2015," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 101855, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Pawel Bukowski & Filip Novokmet, 2019. "Between Communism and Capitalism: Long-Term Inequality in Poland, 1892- 2015," Working Papers hal-02876995, HAL.
    21. Klein, Alexander, 2009. "Did Children’s Education Matter? Family Migration as a Mechanism of Human Capital Investment. Evidence From Nineteenth Century Bohemia," Economic Research Papers 271185, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.

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