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The Surprising Wealth of Pre-industrial England

Author

Listed:
  • Brock Smith
  • Gregory Clark
  • Joe Cummins

    (Department of Economics, University of California Davis)

Abstract

Occupations listed in wills reveal that as early as 1560 effectively only 60% of the English engaged in farming. Even by 1817, well into the Industrial Revolution, the equivalent primary share, once we count in food and raw material imports, was still 52%. By implication, incomes in pre-industrial England were close to those of 1800. Urbanization rates are not a good guide to pre-industrial income levels. Many rural workers were engaged in manufacturing, services and trade. The occupation shares also imply pre-industrial England was rich enough in 1560 to rank above the bottom fifth of countries in 2007.

Suggested Citation

  • Brock Smith & Gregory Clark & Joe Cummins, 2010. "The Surprising Wealth of Pre-industrial England," Working Papers 139, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:cda:wpaper:139
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    File URL: https://repec.dss.ucdavis.edu/files/NzC9uBoM8qPsGswLkHcGYLJM/10-14.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Martin Rorke, 2006. "English and Scottish overseas trade, 1300–16001," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 59(2), pages 265-288, May.
    2. Clark, Gregory, 2010. "The Consumer Revolution: Turning Point in Human History, or Statistical Artifact?," MPRA Paper 25467, University Library of Munich, Germany.
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    13. Gregory Clark, 2009. "The Macroeconomic Aggregates for England, 1209-2008," Working Papers 919, University of California, Davis, Department of Economics.
    14. Vries,Jan de, 2008. "The Industrious Revolution," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521719254, September.
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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. Pre-industrial revolution England did not grow, but was rich
      by Economic Logician in Economic Logic on 2010-11-03 19:56:00

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    Cited by:

    1. Broadberry, Stephen & Campbell, Bruce M.S. & van Leeuwen, Bas, 2013. "When did Britain industrialise? The sectoral distribution of the labour force and labour productivity in Britain, 1381–1851," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 16-27.
    2. Clark, Gregory, 2013. "1381 and the Malthus delusion," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 4-15.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Growth; England; Pre-industrial;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • N13 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • O40 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - General
    • O52 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Europe

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