Nominal wage patterns, monopsony, and labour market power in early modern England
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3232255 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Meredith M Paker (0000-0002-9700-5195, Grinnell College), Judy Z Stephenson (0000-0003-4972-4096, University College London, corresponding author), Paul Wallis (0000-0003-1434-515X, London School of Economics and Political Science) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 78 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 179-206 |
| Publication date | 2025-02-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Economic History Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0013-0117 • E-ISSN: 1468-0289 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/ehr.13346 |
| OpenAlex | W4394797394 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 5 |
| References cited | 124 |
Records of long-eighteenth-century English wage rates exhibit almost absolute nominal rigidity over many decades, alongside significant dispersion between the wages paid by different organizations for the same type of work in the same location. These features of preindustrial wages have been obscured by data aggregation and the construction of real wage series, which introduce variation. In this paper, we argue that the standard explanations for wage rigidity in economic history are insufficient. We show econometric evidence for monopsony power in one major organization and argue that the main historical wage series are also affected by employer power. Eighteenth-century England had an imperfectly competitive labour market with large frictions. This gave large organizations the power to set wage policies. We discuss the implications for the eighteenth-century British economy and research into long-run wages more generally
Economics · Efficiency wage · Labour economics · Market economy · Market power · Monopsony · Power (physics) · Real wages · Rigidity (electromagnetism) · Wage · Wage dispersion · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Economic Theory and Institutions · Historical Economic and Social Studies
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The Evolution of the Gold Standard in England
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Industrialization and Regional Inequality
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| Unique citing works | 5 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |