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Pre‐Industrial Inequality

Bibliographic Data

ID9714675
AuthorsBranko Milanovic (0000-0002-7906-5696, World Bank and University of Maryland), Peter H Lindert (University of California, Davis), Jeffrey G Williamson (Harvard University and University of Wisconsin)
Year2011
Volume121
Issue551
Pages255-272
Publication date2011-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Economic Journal (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0013-0133 • E-ISSN: 1468-0297
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1111/j.1468-0297.2010.02403.x
OpenAlexW2168134172
LanguageEN
Citations received141
References cited45

Is inequality largely the result of the Industrial Revolution? Or, were pre‐industrial incomes as unequal as they are today? This article infers inequality across individuals within each of the 28 pre‐industrial societies, for which data were available, using what are known as social tables. It applies two new concepts: the inequality possibility frontier and the inequality extraction ratio. They compare the observed income inequality to the maximum feasible inequality that, at a given level of income, might have been 'extracted' by those in power. The results give new insights into the connection between inequality and economic development in the very long run

Econometrics · Economic inequality · Economics · Frontier · Income inequality metrics · Industrial Revolution · Inequality · Political science · Power (physics · Social inequality · Culture, Economy, and Development Studies · Historical Economic and Social Studies · Income, Poverty, and Inequality · Mathematics

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Unique citing works141
Citations per year7,42
Citation span2007 - 2026 (20)
Citation velocitycurrent
Highly citedYes
Citation typesNeutral: 139

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