George R Boyer
Biographic Data
| ID | 973094 |
|---|---|
| NAME | George R Boyer |
| GIVEN NAMES | George R |
| FAMILY NAME | Boyer |
| SIGNATURE | BOYER G R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Cornell University |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 33 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 98 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 33 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1985 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
The Winding Road to the Welfare State
How did Britain transform itself from a nation of workhouses to one that became a model for the modern welfare state? The Winding Road to the Welfare State investigates the evolution of living standards and welfare policies in Britain from the 1830s to 1950 and provides insights into how British working-class households coped with economic insecurity. George Boyer examines the retrenchment in Victorian poor relief, the Liberal Welfare Reforms, an…
Work for their prime, the workhouse for their age”
This paper examines the extent of local government support for the elderly, in the form of poor relief, in Victorian England. It presents newly constructed estimates of old age pauperism rates for each of England's ten registration divisions from 1861 to 1908, the year the Old Age Pension Act was adopted. My estimates show that the share of persons aged 65 and older receiving government assistance in the nineteenth century was far larger than mos…
Global warming of the labor legislation climate
Poverty among the elderly in late Victorian England1
Despite rapid increases in manual workers' wages, poverty rates among the elderly remained high in late Victorian England, although they varied significantly across Poor Law Unions. This paper begins by examining the ability of workers to provide for their old age. A data set is constructed, consisting of all English Poor Law Unions in 1891-2, and regression equations are estimated in order to explain variations across unions in pauperism rates. …
The Impact of Emigration on Real Wages in Ireland, 1850–1914
Ireland’s post-famine economic history presents an unusual picture. Largely as a result of mass emigration the Irish population fell to little over half its prefamine level by 1914. Though the proportion of the labor force in agriculture fell, Ireland failed to industrialize as rapidly as other western European countries. Total national income grew slowly although there was a substantial rise in national income per capita
The Evolution of Unemployment Relief in Great Britain
The history of unemployment relief in Britain from 1834 to 1911 was not a "unilinear progression in collective benevolence," culminating in unemployment insurance. The combination of poor relief and private charity to assist cyclically unemployed workers from 1834 to 1870 was more generous, and more certain, than the relief provided for the unemployed under the various policies adopted from 1870 to 1911. A major shift in policy occurred in the 18…
New Estimates of British Unemployment, 1870–1913
We present new estimates of the British industrial unemployment rate for 1870–1913, which improve on the Board of Trade's prior estimates. We use similar sources, but our series includes additional industrial sectors, allows for short-time working, and aggregates the various sectors using appropriate labor-force weights from the census. The resulting index suggests a rate of industrial unemployment that was generally higher, but less volatile, th…
The Development of the Neoclassical Tradition in Labor Economics
This essay on labor economics examines neoclassical theory's rise to ascendancy following the second World War, with a secondary focus on the relative decline but continued influence of institutionalist economic theory. The authors describe the evolution of institutional and neoclassical theory from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, examine some early intellectual debates between the two camps, briefly describe the work of neoclassi…
Labour History and the Labour Movement in Britain
Contents: Introduction Wages and Working Conditions: Management and labour in Britain during the period of industrialisation Labour The ethics of the Sheffield outrages Wages and earnings in the Sheffield trades, 1851a 1914 Real earnings in Sheffield Robert Owen and the Co-operative Movement: Robert Owen and the reduction in working hours: some considerations in the light of recent research Dr William King of Ipswich: a Co-operative pioneer Ninet…
The Influence of London on Labor Markets in Southern England, 1830-1914
George R. Boyer, The Influence of London on Labor Markets in Southern England, 1830-1914, Social Science History, Vol. 22, No. 3, Special Issue: Migration and the Labor Markets (Autumn, 1998), pp. 257-285
The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto
This paper attempts to place the economic analysis of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's Communist Manifesto in historical perspective. The author begins by summarizing the analysis of capitalist economic development in the Manifesto, and showing how it was strongly influenced by developments in the cotton industry in Manchester, England. He then examines the economic, social, and political conditions in Manchester and the surrounding cotton towns …
Poor Relief, Informal Assistance, and Short Time during the Lancashire Cotton Famine
Migration and Labour Market Integration in Late Nineteenth-Century England and Wales
[Excerpt] There is a long and well established tradition of studies analysing the pattern and causes of internal migration and assessing the degree of labour market integration in late nineteenth-century Britain. Some studies document the flows of migrants from one area to another and describe migrant characteristics and the directions of the predominant streams of migration. Others analyse the determinants of gross or net migration flows at the …
Did Joseph Arch raise agricultural wages? A reply
[Excerpt] Dunbabin takes issue with us on the question of whether and by how much the agricultural workers' movement led by Joseph Arch raised agricultural wages in the early 1870s. A number of authors have speculated on what the wage effect might have been, but these speculations have rarely been based on more than a cursory examination of agricultural wage data and they have not been able to separate the effects of unionism from other factors i…
Did Joseph Arch Raise Agricultural Wages? A Reply
Dunbabin takes issue with us on the question of whether and by how much the agricultural workers' movement led by Joseph Arch raised agricultural wages in the early 1870s.A number of authors have speculated on what the wage effect might have been, but these speculations have rarely been based on more than a cursory examination of agricultural wage data and they have not been able to separate the effects of unionism from other factors influencing …
The Union Wage Effect in Late Nineteenth Century Britain
This paper offers an historical dimension to the impact of trade unions on earnings by estimating the union wage effect in Britain in 1989-90 using data from the US Commissioner of Labor survey conducted at that time. The determinants of union status are also investigated in terms of a probit estimation using individual characteristics which may be correlated with union membership. The results of this first step are used in the computation of sel…
Did Joseph Arch Raise Agricultural Wages
The outbreak of rural unionism in the early 1870s and its subsequent collapse is a well-known milestone in labour history. It was one of the earliest attempts to raise wages among unskilled labourers through unionism. There has been much conjecture but little systematic analysis of its effect on rural wages. Using two different approaches we provide the first econometric estimates of the impact of rural unionism on wages during this era. We find …
England's Two Agricultural Revolutions
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750-1850
An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750-1850
An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750-1850
Journal Article An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750–1850 Get access Boyer George R, An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750–1850. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. xiii, 297 pp. $44.50. James W. Ely, Jr. James W. Ely, Jr. Vanderbilt University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 35, Issue 3, July 1991, Pages 340–342, https://doi.org/1…
British Unemployment, 1919-1939
An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750–1850
During the last third of the eighteenth century, most parishes in rural southern England adopted policies providing poor relief outside workhouses to unemployed and underemployed able-bodied labourers. The debate over the economic effects of 'outdoor' relief payments to able-bodied workers has continued for over 200 years. This book examines the economic role of the Poor Law in the rural south of England. It presents a model of the agricultural l…
Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective
The outstanding internal economic problem of the interwar period in all countries studied was undoubtedly unemployment.Next to war, unemployment has been the most widespread, most insidious and most corroding malady of our generation; it is the specific disease of western countries in our time.It varied in intensity in the different countries but in nearly every industrial country it held the center of the social and economic stage in the interwa…
Malthus Was Right after All
The payment of child allowances to laborers with large families was widespread in early nineteenth-century England. This paper tests Thomas Malthus's hypothesis that child allowances caused the birth rate to increase. A cross-sectional regression model is estimated to explain variations in birth rates across parishes in 1826-30. Birth rates are found to be related to child allowances, income, and the availability of housing, as Malthus contended.…
Migration and Labour Market Integration in Late Nineteenth-Century England and Wales
[Excerpt] There is a long and well established tradition of studies analysing the pattern and causes of internal migration and assessing the degree of labour market integration in late nineteenth-century Britain. Some studies document the flows of migrants from one area to another and describe migrant characteristics and the directions of the predominant streams of migration. Others analyse the determinants of gross or net migration flows at the …
New Estimates of British Unemployment, 1870–1913
We present new estimates of the British industrial unemployment rate for 1870–1913, which improve on the Board of Trade's prior estimates. We use similar sources, but our series includes additional industrial sectors, allows for short-time working, and aggregates the various sectors using appropriate labor-force weights from the census. The resulting index suggests a rate of industrial unemployment that was generally higher, but less volatile, th…
Malthus Was Right after All
The payment of child allowances to laborers with large families was widespread in early nineteenth-century England. This paper tests Thomas Malthus's hypothesis that child allowances caused the birth rate to increase. A cross-sectional regression model is estimated to explain variations in birth rates across parishes in 1826-30. Birth rates are found to be related to child allowances, income, and the availability of housing, as Malthus contended.…
The Development of the Neoclassical Tradition in Labor Economics
This essay on labor economics examines neoclassical theory's rise to ascendancy following the second World War, with a secondary focus on the relative decline but continued influence of institutionalist economic theory. The authors describe the evolution of institutional and neoclassical theory from the late nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries, examine some early intellectual debates between the two camps, briefly describe the work of neoclassi…
Poor Relief, Informal Assistance, and Short Time during the Lancashire Cotton Famine
An economic model of the English Poor Law circa 1780–1834
The Evolution of Unemployment Relief in Great Britain
The history of unemployment relief in Britain from 1834 to 1911 was not a "unilinear progression in collective benevolence," culminating in unemployment insurance. The combination of poor relief and private charity to assist cyclically unemployed workers from 1834 to 1870 was more generous, and more certain, than the relief provided for the unemployed under the various policies adopted from 1870 to 1911. A major shift in policy occurred in the 18…
The Old Poor Law and the Agricultural Labor Market in Southern England
The paper examines the economic role played by poor relief in early nineteenth-century England. A three-equation model is estimated to explain cross-parish variations in per capita relief expenditures, agricultural laborers' annual wage income, and unemployment rates. Relief expenditures are found to be related to crop mix, the political power of labor-hiring farmers, distance from London, and employment opportunities in cottage industry. The res…
The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto
This paper attempts to place the economic analysis of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's Communist Manifesto in historical perspective. The author begins by summarizing the analysis of capitalist economic development in the Manifesto, and showing how it was strongly influenced by developments in the cotton industry in Manchester, England. He then examines the economic, social, and political conditions in Manchester and the surrounding cotton towns …
The Union Wage Effect in Late Nineteenth Century Britain
This paper offers an historical dimension to the impact of trade unions on earnings by estimating the union wage effect in Britain in 1989-90 using data from the US Commissioner of Labor survey conducted at that time. The determinants of union status are also investigated in terms of a probit estimation using individual characteristics which may be correlated with union membership. The results of this first step are used in the computation of sel…
What Did Unions Do in Nineteenth-Century Britain
The article examines the development of the insurance function of trade unions. It analyzes how such policies worked, and why union benefit packages differed across occupations. It also addresses the impact of insurance policies on union organization. Insurance benefits increased the ability of unions to attract and retain members. They did not, however, significantly increase the power of union leaders relative to employers or union rank and fil…
Poverty among the elderly in late Victorian England1
Despite rapid increases in manual workers' wages, poverty rates among the elderly remained high in late Victorian England, although they varied significantly across Poor Law Unions. This paper begins by examining the ability of workers to provide for their old age. A data set is constructed, consisting of all English Poor Law Unions in 1891-2, and regression equations are estimated in order to explain variations across unions in pauperism rates. …
Did Joseph Arch Raise Agricultural Wages
The outbreak of rural unionism in the early 1870s and its subsequent collapse is a well-known milestone in labour history. It was one of the earliest attempts to raise wages among unskilled labourers through unionism. There has been much conjecture but little systematic analysis of its effect on rural wages. Using two different approaches we provide the first econometric estimates of the impact of rural unionism on wages during this era. We find …
The Poor Law, Migration, and Economic Growth
The loss to the English economy caused by decreased migration resulting from relief payments to agricultural laborers is estimated. I conclude that, at worst, the Poor Law had a small negative impact on national product. If poor relief and wages were substitutes, the Poor Law may have had a positive impact on capital formation and economic growth
The Economic Role of the English Poor Law, 1780–1834
[Excerpt] Over the 85-year period from 1748/50 to 1832/34, real per capita expenditures on poor relief increased at an average rate of approximately 1 percent per year. There were also important changes in the administration of relief with respect to able-bodied laborers during the period. Policies providing relief outside of workhouses to unemployed and under-employed able-bodied laborers became widespread during the 1770s and 1780s in the grain…
An economic model of the English Poor Law circa 1780–1834
British Labour History, 1815-1914
The Idea of Poverty
The Old Poor Law and the Agricultural Labor Market in Southern England
The paper examines the economic role played by poor relief in early nineteenth-century England. A three-equation model is estimated to explain cross-parish variations in per capita relief expenditures, agricultural laborers' annual wage income, and unemployment rates. Relief expenditures are found to be related to crop mix, the political power of labor-hiring farmers, distance from London, and employment opportunities in cottage industry. The res…
The Poor Law, Migration, and Economic Growth
The loss to the English economy caused by decreased migration resulting from relief payments to agricultural laborers is estimated. I conclude that, at worst, the Poor Law had a small negative impact on national product. If poor relief and wages were substitutes, the Poor Law may have had a positive impact on capital formation and economic growth
The Economics of the Industrial Revolution
1. The Industrial Revolution and the New Economic History 2. The Industrial Revolution 1780-1860: A Survey 3. The Inputs for Growth 4. Demand vs. Supply in the Industrial Revolution 5. Industrial Revolution in England and France: Some Thoughts on the Question Why Was England First? 6. Food Supply in the United Kingdom During the Industrial Revolution 7. Income Elasticities of Demand and the Release of Labor 8. Industrialization and the European E…
What Did Unions Do in Nineteenth-Century Britain
The article examines the development of the insurance function of trade unions. It analyzes how such policies worked, and why union benefit packages differed across occupations. It also addresses the impact of insurance policies on union organization. Insurance benefits increased the ability of unions to attract and retain members. They did not, however, significantly increase the power of union leaders relative to employers or union rank and fil…
Malthus Was Right after All
The payment of child allowances to laborers with large families was widespread in early nineteenth-century England. This paper tests Thomas Malthus's hypothesis that child allowances caused the birth rate to increase. A cross-sectional regression model is estimated to explain variations in birth rates across parishes in 1826-30. Birth rates are found to be related to child allowances, income, and the availability of housing, as Malthus contended.…
An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750–1850
During the last third of the eighteenth century, most parishes in rural southern England adopted policies providing poor relief outside workhouses to unemployed and underemployed able-bodied labourers. The debate over the economic effects of 'outdoor' relief payments to able-bodied workers has continued for over 200 years. This book examines the economic role of the Poor Law in the rural south of England. It presents a model of the agricultural l…
Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective
The outstanding internal economic problem of the interwar period in all countries studied was undoubtedly unemployment.Next to war, unemployment has been the most widespread, most insidious and most corroding malady of our generation; it is the specific disease of western countries in our time.It varied in intensity in the different countries but in nearly every industrial country it held the center of the social and economic stage in the interwa…
An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750-1850
Journal Article An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750–1850 Get access Boyer George R, An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750–1850. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. xiii, 297 pp. $44.50. James W. Ely, Jr. James W. Ely, Jr. Vanderbilt University Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar American Journal of Legal History, Volume 35, Issue 3, July 1991, Pages 340–342, https://doi.org/1…
British Unemployment, 1919-1939
An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750-1850
An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750-1850
England's Two Agricultural Revolutions
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content
The Union Wage Effect in Late Nineteenth Century Britain
This paper offers an historical dimension to the impact of trade unions on earnings by estimating the union wage effect in Britain in 1989-90 using data from the US Commissioner of Labor survey conducted at that time. The determinants of union status are also investigated in terms of a probit estimation using individual characteristics which may be correlated with union membership. The results of this first step are used in the computation of sel…
Did Joseph Arch Raise Agricultural Wages
The outbreak of rural unionism in the early 1870s and its subsequent collapse is a well-known milestone in labour history. It was one of the earliest attempts to raise wages among unskilled labourers through unionism. There has been much conjecture but little systematic analysis of its effect on rural wages. Using two different approaches we provide the first econometric estimates of the impact of rural unionism on wages during this era. We find …
Did Joseph Arch raise agricultural wages? A reply
[Excerpt] Dunbabin takes issue with us on the question of whether and by how much the agricultural workers' movement led by Joseph Arch raised agricultural wages in the early 1870s. A number of authors have speculated on what the wage effect might have been, but these speculations have rarely been based on more than a cursory examination of agricultural wage data and they have not been able to separate the effects of unionism from other factors i…
Did Joseph Arch Raise Agricultural Wages? A Reply
Dunbabin takes issue with us on the question of whether and by how much the agricultural workers' movement led by Joseph Arch raised agricultural wages in the early 1870s.A number of authors have speculated on what the wage effect might have been, but these speculations have rarely been based on more than a cursory examination of agricultural wage data and they have not been able to separate the effects of unionism from other factors influencing …
Poor Relief, Informal Assistance, and Short Time during the Lancashire Cotton Famine
Migration and Labour Market Integration in Late Nineteenth-Century England and Wales
[Excerpt] There is a long and well established tradition of studies analysing the pattern and causes of internal migration and assessing the degree of labour market integration in late nineteenth-century Britain. Some studies document the flows of migrants from one area to another and describe migrant characteristics and the directions of the predominant streams of migration. Others analyse the determinants of gross or net migration flows at the …
The Influence of London on Labor Markets in Southern England, 1830-1914
George R. Boyer, The Influence of London on Labor Markets in Southern England, 1830-1914, Social Science History, Vol. 22, No. 3, Special Issue: Migration and the Labor Markets (Autumn, 1998), pp. 257-285
The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto
This paper attempts to place the economic analysis of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels's Communist Manifesto in historical perspective. The author begins by summarizing the analysis of capitalist economic development in the Manifesto, and showing how it was strongly influenced by developments in the cotton industry in Manchester, England. He then examines the economic, social, and political conditions in Manchester and the surrounding cotton towns …
Labour History and the Labour Movement in Britain
Contents: Introduction Wages and Working Conditions: Management and labour in Britain during the period of industrialisation Labour The ethics of the Sheffield outrages Wages and earnings in the Sheffield trades, 1851a 1914 Real earnings in Sheffield Robert Owen and the Co-operative Movement: Robert Owen and the reduction in working hours: some considerations in the light of recent research Dr William King of Ipswich: a Co-operative pioneer Ninet…
Economics (30 works) · Political science (21 works) · Historical Economic and Social Studies (19 works) · Law (19 works) · Labour economics (13 works) · History (10 works) · Demographic economics (9 works) · Economic growth (9 works) · Sociology (9 works) · Economic history (7 works)