{"title":"Wages, prices and living standards in Spanish America: evidence from Lima","authors":"Luis Felipe Zegarra","doi":"10.1007/s11698-023-00278-9","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>By relying on information on wages from primary sources, I estimate welfare ratios in Lima in 1757–1819. I use two alternative methods to estimate the subsistence basket and welfare ratios. The results indicate that working families in Lima faced severe difficulties to cover their basic needs if they did not deviate from typical consumption habits. However, they could cover their nutritional and other basic needs if they replaced expensive foods, such as meats and bread, with cheaper sources of nutrients, such as maize flour. An international comparison shows that the welfare ratio in Lima was lower than the ratios in Northern Europe and North America. However, Lima compared well to several important European cities, such as Paris, Munich and Toledo.</p>","PeriodicalId":44951,"journal":{"name":"Cliometrica","volume":"30 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.5000,"publicationDate":"2023-12-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Cliometrica","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s11698-023-00278-9","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"历史学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ECONOMICS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
By relying on information on wages from primary sources, I estimate welfare ratios in Lima in 1757–1819. I use two alternative methods to estimate the subsistence basket and welfare ratios. The results indicate that working families in Lima faced severe difficulties to cover their basic needs if they did not deviate from typical consumption habits. However, they could cover their nutritional and other basic needs if they replaced expensive foods, such as meats and bread, with cheaper sources of nutrients, such as maize flour. An international comparison shows that the welfare ratio in Lima was lower than the ratios in Northern Europe and North America. However, Lima compared well to several important European cities, such as Paris, Munich and Toledo.
期刊介绍:
Cliometrica provides a leading forum for exchange of ideas and research in all facets, in all historical periods and in all geographical locations of historical economics. The journal encourages the methodological debate, the use of economic theory in general and model building in particular, the reliance upon quantification to buttress the models with historical data, the use of the more standard historical knowledge to broaden the understanding and suggesting new avenues of research, and the use of statistical theory and econometrics to combine models with data in a single consistent explanation. The highest standards of quality are promoted. All articles will be subject to Cliometrica''s peer review process. On occasion, specialised topics may be presented in a special issue.
Officially cited as: Cliometrica