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How Prosperous were the Romans? Evidence from Diocletian`s Price Edict (301 AD)

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  • Robert Allen
  • Robert C. Allen

Abstract

The paper compares the standard of living of labourers in the Roman Empire in 301 AD with the standard of living of labourers in Europe and Asia from the middle ages to the industrial revolution. Roman data are drawn from Diocletian`s Price Edict. The real wage of Roman workers was like that of their counterparts in the lagging parts of Europe and much of Asia in the middle of the eighteenth century. Roman workers earned just enough to buy a minimal subsistence consumption basket. Real wages were considerably higher in the advanced parts of Europe in the eighteenth century, as they had been in Europe generally following the Black Death in 1348-9.

Suggested Citation

  • Robert Allen & Robert C. Allen, 2007. "How Prosperous were the Romans? Evidence from Diocletian`s Price Edict (301 AD)," Economics Series Working Papers 363, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:wpaper:363
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Blog mentions

    As found by EconAcademics.org, the blog aggregator for Economics research:
    1. links for 2010-02-11
      by Brad DeLong in Grasping Reality with the Invisible Hand on 2010-02-11 14:05:21

    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ashenfelter, Orley, 2012. "Comparing Real Wage Rates," IZA Discussion Papers 6500, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Baomin Dong & Jiong Gong & Kaixiang Peng & Zhongxiu Zhao, 2015. "Little Divergence: Evidence from Cotton Textiles in Japan and China 1868–1930," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 776-796, November.
    3. Robert C Allen, 2011. "Technology and the Great Divergence," Working Papers 11027, Economic History Society.
    4. Doug Jones, 2021. "Barbarigenesis and the collapse of complex societies: Rome and after," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 16(9), pages 1-33, September.
    5. Orley Ashenfelter, 2012. "Comparing Real Wage Rates: Presidential Address," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 102(2), pages 617-642, April.
    6. Adam Izdebski & Tymon Słoczyński & Anton Bonnier & Grzegorz Koloch & Katerina Kouli, 2020. "Landscape Change and Trade in Ancient Greece: Evidence from Pollen Data," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 130(632), pages 2596-2618.
    7. Remi Jedwab & Dietrich Vollrath, 2019. "The Urban Mortality Transition and Poor-Country Urbanization," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 11(1), pages 223-275, January.
    8. Milanovic, Branko, 2010. "Income level and income inequality in the Euro-Mediterranean region: from the Principate to the Islamic conquest," MPRA Paper 46640, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. repec:pri:indrel:dsp01t435gd01h is not listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Standard of Living; Real Wage; Roman Empire; Long Run Economic Growth;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • N30 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - General, International, or Comparative
    • O47 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Growth and Aggregate Productivity - - - Empirical Studies of Economic Growth; Aggregate Productivity; Cross-Country Output Convergence

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