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The Social Implications of Sugar: Living Costs, Real Incomes and Inequality in Jamaica c1774

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  • Trevor Burnard
  • Laura Panza
  • Jeffrey G. Williamson

Abstract

This paper provides the first quantitative assessment of Jamaican standards of living and income inequality around 1774. To this purpose we compute welfare ratios for a range of occupations and build a social table. We find that the slave colony had extremely high living costs, which rose steeply during the American War of Independence, and low standards of living, particularly for its enslaved population. Our results also show that due to its extreme poverty surrounding extreme wealth Jamaica was the most unequal place in the pre-modern world. Furthermore, all of these characteristics applied to the free population alone.

Suggested Citation

  • Trevor Burnard & Laura Panza & Jeffrey G. Williamson, 2017. "The Social Implications of Sugar: Living Costs, Real Incomes and Inequality in Jamaica c1774," NBER Working Papers 23897, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23897
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • N16 - Economic History - - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • N36 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Latin America; Caribbean
    • O54 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economywide Country Studies - - - Latin America; Caribbean

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