The Surprising Wealth of Pre-industrial England

Gregory Clark, Joseph Cummins and Brock Smith

MPRA Paper from University Library of Munich, Germany

Abstract: Occupations listed in wills reveal that as early as 1560 effectively only 60% of the English engaged in farming. Even by 1817, well into the Industrial Revolution, the equivalent primary share, once we count in food and raw material imports, was still 52%. By implication, incomes in pre-industrial England were close to those of 1800. Urbanization rates are not a good guide to pre-industrial income levels. Many rural workers were engaged in manufacturing, services and trade. The occupation shares also imply pre-industrial England was rich enough in 1560 to rank above the bottom fifth of countries in 2007.

Keywords: Long; Run; Growth; England (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: N13 N3 O4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2010-07-04
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-his and nep-mic
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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Working Paper: The Surprising Wealth of Pre-industrial England (2010)
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