Desertions in nineteenth-century shipping: modelling quit behaviour

Jari Ojala, Jaakko Pehkonen and Jari Eloranta

European Review of Economic History, 2013, vol. 17, issue 1, 122-140

Abstract: Ship jumping in foreign ports was widespread throughout the age of sail. Desertion by seamen was illegal, it occurred abroad, and men who deserted only seldom returned home. We analyse desertion quantitatively and link it to the broader question of quit behaviour and labour turnover. Though the better wages paid at the foreign ports were the main reason for desertion, the regression model of the determinants of desertion indicates that outside opportunities, such as migration, and monetary incentives played a significant role in the nineteenth-century labour market, characterized by rather strict control over labour supply, working conditions, and terms of trade. Copyright , Oxford University Press.

Date: 2013
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