Consumption, Social Capital, and the ‘Industrious Revolution’ in Early Modern Germany

Sheilagh Ogilvie

Cambridge Working Papers in Economics from Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge

Abstract: This paper uses evidence from German-speaking central Europe to address open questions about the Consumer and Industrious Revolutions. Did they happen outside the early-developing, North Atlantic economies? Were they shaped by the “social capital” of traditional institutions? How were they affected by social constraints on women? It finds that people in central Europe did desire to increase market work and consumption. But elites used the “social capital” of traditional institutions to oppose new work and consumption practices, especially by women, migrants, and the poor. Although they seldom blocked new practices wholly, they delayed them, limited them socially, and increased their costs.

Keywords: economic history; consumption; social capital; institutions; guilds; communities; labour; discrimination; gender; Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J22 J31 J4 J7 N0 N33 N43 N63 N73 N93 O15 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009-10-15
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his, nep-hpe, nep-lab and nep-soc
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Consumption, Social Capital, and the “Industrious Revolution” in Early Modern Germany (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cam:camdae:0943

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