The Economic Impact of the Black Death

Mark Koyama, Noel Johnson () and Remi Jedwab

No 15132, CEPR Discussion Papers from C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers

Abstract: The Black Death was the largest demographic shock in European history. We review the evidence for the origins, spread, and mortality of the disease. We document that it was a plausibly exogenous shock to the European economy and trace out its aggregate and local impacts in both the short-run and the long-run. The initial effect of the plague was highly disruptive. Wages and per capita income rose. But, in the long-run, this rise was only sustained in some parts of Europe. The other indirect long-run effects of the Black Death are associated with the growth of Europe relative to the rest of the world, especially Asia and the Middle East (the Great Divergence), a shift in the economic geography of Europe towards the Northwest (the Little Divergence), the demise of serfdom in Western Europe, a decline in the authority of religious institutions, and the emergence of stronger states. Finally, avenues for future research are laid out

Keywords: Pandemics; Black death; Institutions; Cities; Urbanization; Malthusian theory; Demography; Long-run growth (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I14 I15 J11 N00 N13 O0 O43 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020-08
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-evo, nep-gro, nep-his and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The Economic Impact of the Black Death (2022)
Working Paper: The Economic Impact of the Black Death (2020)
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