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Decomposing Economic Inequality in Early Modern Venice (ca. 1650-1800)

Author

Listed:
  • Edoardo Demo
  • Roberto Ricciuti
  • Mattia Viale

Abstract

This article analyses trends in economic inequalities in Venice between the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries. Based on largely unpublished archive sources, changes in income and consumption inequalities have been studied, while the bootstrap method was used to determine if these changes are statistically significant. The households studied were divided into subgroups to better understand the dynamics between and within the different population components. We show that changes in consumption inequality are significant, whereas those relating to income inequality are not. We argue that this is due to the inability of the economy to generate wealth, whereas families were better able to face the major structural changes in the European economy in the last two centuries of the early modern period.

Suggested Citation

  • Edoardo Demo & Roberto Ricciuti & Mattia Viale, 2018. "Decomposing Economic Inequality in Early Modern Venice (ca. 1650-1800)," HHB Working Papers Series 12, The Historical Household Budgets Project.
    • Handle: RePEc:hbu:wpaper:12
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    consumption inequality; Early modern period; economic inequality; Little Divergence; Venice;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • N33 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Europe: Pre-1913
    • N93 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Europe: Pre-1913

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