Mercantilist inequality
Wealth and poverty in Stockholm, 1650-1750
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 3367769 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Elin Bengtsson (0000-0003-1523-0565, Erik Bengtsson and Mats Olsson Lund University; Patrick Svensson Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), Mats Olsson (0000-0002-2246-3941, Erik Bengtsson and Mats Olsson Lund University; Patrick Svensson Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), Peter Svensson (0000-0002-7143-416X, Erik Bengtsson and Mats Olsson Lund University; Patrick Svensson Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) |
| Year | 2022 |
| Volume | 75 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 157-180 |
| Publication date | 2022-02-01 |
| 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.13081 |
| OpenAlex | W2996986902 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 9 |
| References cited | 35 |
This article describes and analyses social structure, poverty, wealth, and economic inequality in Stockholm from 1650 to 1750. We begin by establishing the social structure, using census data and other sources. To study wealth and poverty, the main sources are a complete record of the wealth tax of 1715, comprising 17,782 taxpayers, and a total of 1,125 probate inventories sampled from the years 1650, 1700, and 1750. These provide detailed and sometimes surprising insights into the living standards of both the poor and the rich. Stockholm in this period was a starkly unequal city, with the top decile of wealth holders owning about 90 per cent of total wealth. We relate this inequality to mercantilist policies. The city was run as an oligarchy and the oligarchical political institutions engendered policies that were rigged for inequality. The case of Stockholm thus shows the need for the historical inequality literature to consider class and power relations to understand the determinants of inequality
Decile · Development economics · Economic growth · Economics · Inequality · Macroeconomics · Market economy · Mercantilism · Political science · Poverty · Probate · Purchasing power · Social class · Social inequality · Economic Theory and Policy · Historical Economic and Social Studies
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| Unique citing works | 9 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4,5 |
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 9 |