Not all that glitters is good. Material wealth and living standards in rural Piedmont, 1650-1800

Alberto Concina

Rivista di storia economica, 2025, issue 2, 197-222

Abstract: This article deals with the trajectory of material wealth levels and living standards among Piedmontese rural households in the long eighteenth century, asking whether improvements in material wealth were accompanied by rising general wellbeing. The article analyses the possible drivers behind improved consumption, identifying the relative cheapening of luxuries and manufactured goods as the most probable explanation behind the rise in material wealth. The distribution of several items previous research has deemed indicative of changing consuming culture has be analyzed. While all households improved their material wealth levels, only the rural elites managed to properly adopt new consumption practices while maintaining high living standards. For the rest of society and for rural workers in particular, rising material wealth and general wellbeing did not proceed hand in hand.

Keywords: Wealth; Consumption; Living Standards; Countryside (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:mul:jrkmxm:doi:10.1410/116651:y:2025:i:2:p:197-222

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