The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: the English Corn Returns as a data source in economic history, 1770-1914

Liam Brunt and Edmund Cannon

No 9/2013, Discussion Paper Series in Economics from Norwegian School of Economics, Department of Economics

Abstract: From 1770 to 1914, the British Government collected weekly price and quantity data for all types of grain traded in many market towns; these ‘Corn Returns’ were published in the London Gazette. We computerised the data published 1770-1864, totalling around 6 million data points. Here we describe the nature of these data; discuss why, when and how they were collected; consider their accuracy and biases; describe how we computerised them; and offer caveats in using these – and similar – data. We highlight the problem of drawing valid inferences in the face of price impact from fluctuating grain quality and rising imports.

Keywords: Grain prices; market institutions; data collection (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N53 Q13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 30 pages
Date: 2013-04-18
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: the English Corn Returns as a data source in economic history, 1770-1914 (2013)
Working Paper: The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: the English Corn Returns as a data source in economic history, 1770-1914 (2013)
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