Convergence in the pre-1914 Atlantic economy: what really happened to wages in the Irish economy?

Jason Begley, Frank Geary and Tom Stark
Additional contact information
Jason Begley: Coventry University
Frank Geary: Belfast
Tom Stark: Portstewart

No 15014, Working Papers from Economic History Society

Abstract: "After the Famine Irish wages caught up on those of Great Britain. Catch up is ascribed to globalised labour markets and the effects of emigration. However current estimates of the level of Irish wages and their rate of growth are based on a small sample of the male workforce. This paper presents estimates of the average wage for all wage earners and the Irish wage bill. This enables an estimate of an (implied) British average wage and wage bill. The new estimates show that while there was significant wage catch up in a few occupations, in general catch up was less rapid than recent studies have suggested. The origins of this catch up are also examined. Consistent with earlier studies which emphasise modernisation of the post-Famine economy the evidence of this paper is consistent with the effects of traditional convergence forces such as TFP growth, capital accumulation and structural change operating at least alongside the effects of emigration."

Keywords: "Average wages; wage bill; catch up; emigration; labour demand" (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015-03
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.coventry.ac.uk/Global/05%20Research%20 ... r%2010%20ver%207.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ehs:wpaper:15014

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Working Papers from Economic History Society Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chair Public Engagement Committe (currently David Higgins - Newcastle) ().