Was There a Crisis? Living Standards in Lower Canada, 1760 to 1848

Matthew Curtis and Vincent Geloso

European Review of Economic History, 2025, vol. 29, issue 2, 131-160

Abstract: Lower Canada, now the Canadian province of Quebec, is believed to have faced an agricultural crisis in the early 1800s, leading to declining living standards, a debated topic due to lack of data. This paper uses new data on real wages, literacy, and infant mortality to quantitatively assess living standards from 1760 to 1850. The findings show no evidence of a crisis; instead, there are only indications of improvements during the period.

Keywords: Canadian economic history; agricultural crisis; economic growth; human development (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:oup:ereveh:v:29:y:2025:i:2:p:131-160.

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