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Decomposing income inequality in a backward pre‐industrial economy: O ld C astile ( S pain) in the middle of the eighteenth century
Author(s) -
Nicolini Esteban A.,
Ramos Palencia Fernando
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
the economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.014
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1468-0289
pISSN - 0013-0117
DOI - 10.1111/ehr.12122
Subject(s) - economic inequality , inequality , economics , income distribution , census , income inequality metrics , residence , demographic economics , household income , backwardness , distribution (mathematics) , per capita income , labour economics , geography , demography , population , sociology , economic growth , mathematics , mathematical analysis , archaeology
Research on economic inequality in early modern E urope is complicated by the lack of appropriate data for reconstructing income or wealth distributions. This article presents a study of income inequality in mid‐eighteenth‐century O ld C astile ( S pain) using the E nsenada C adastre, a census conducted between 1749 and 1759. The article describes the information provided by this census and then discusses its advantages and disadvantages for reconstructing income profiles and calculating income inequality. This is followed by analysis of a dataset derived from the C adastre that consists of more than 4,000 observations from Palencia (a province in northern S pain) and contains information on sources of household income, each household head's main occupation, residence location, and other household characteristics. Demographic data from this census is used to weight observations in the sample and thereby minimize selection bias. Findings show that inequality in eighteenth‐century S pain was probably substantial despite its relative backwardness; that the relationship between inequality and per capita income was not clear‐cut and was probably influenced by measurement of the higher incomes; and that although income inequality was largely driven by uneven land distribution, labour income also contributed to overall inequality—especially in urban centres.