Occupational structure in Ireland in the nineteenth century: data sources and avenues of exploration

Abstract: This paper considers structural change in post-Famine Ireland through an examination of changes in the allocation of the labour force across three broad production sectors: primary, secondary and tertiary. To do so, it makes extensive use of the Irish Census of Population from 1821 to 1911 as a source of occupational information. While there […]
Pre-colonial institutions and socioeconomic development: The case of Latin America

Abstract: We study the effects of pre-colonial institutions on present-day socioeconomic outcomes for Latin America. Our thesis is that more advanced pre-colonial institutions relate to better socioeconomic outcomes today. We advance that pre-colonial institutions survived to our days thanks to the existence of largely self-governed Amerindian communities in rural Latin America. Amerindians groups with more […]
Convergence in the pre-1914 Atlantic economy: what really happened to wages in Ireland between 1881 and 1911?

Abstract: After the Famine, Irish wages caught up to those of Great Britain. Catch-up is ascribed to globalised labour markets and the effects of emigration. However current estimates of the level of Irish wages and their rate of growth are based on a small sample of the male workforce. This article presents estimates of the […]