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Long‐term trends in economic inequality: the case of the Florentine state, c . 1300–1800
Author(s) -
Alfani Guido,
Ammannati Francesco
Publication year - 2017
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.12471
Subject(s) - inequality , scholarship , period (music) , state (computer science) , term (time) , economic inequality , economics , development economics , political science , economic growth , art , mathematical analysis , physics , mathematics , algorithm , quantum mechanics , computer science , aesthetics
This article provides an overview of economic inequality, particularly of wealth, in the Florentine state (Tuscany) from the early fourteenth to the late eighteenth century. Regional studies of this kind are rare, and this is only the second‐ever attempt at covering such a long period. Consistent with recent research conducted on other European areas, during the early modern period we find clear indications of a tendency for economic inequality to grow continually, a finding that for Tuscany cannot be explained as the consequence of economic growth. Furthermore, the exceptionally old sources we use allow us to demonstrate that a phase of declining inequality, lasting about one century, was triggered by the Black Death from 1348 to 1349. This finding challenges earlier scholarship and significantly alters our understanding of the economic consequences of the Black Death.