Mercantilist Inequality : Wealth and Poverty in Stockholm 1650-1750
(2019) In Lund Papers in Economic History. General Issues- Abstract
- This paper maps social structure, poverty, wealth and economic inequality in Stockholm from 1650 to 1750. We begin by establishing the social structure, using census data and other sources. To study wealth and poverty, the main sources are a sample from the wealth tax of 1715, and probate inventory samples from 1650, 1700 and 1750. These provide detailed and sometimes surprising insights into the living standards of both the poor and rich. Stockholm in this period was a starkly unequal city, with the top decile of wealth holders owning about 90 per cent of total wealth. We argue that this inequality was the result of deliberate policy – the Mercantilist conviction of “just rewards” for each and every one according to his or her standing.... (More)
- This paper maps social structure, poverty, wealth and economic inequality in Stockholm from 1650 to 1750. We begin by establishing the social structure, using census data and other sources. To study wealth and poverty, the main sources are a sample from the wealth tax of 1715, and probate inventory samples from 1650, 1700 and 1750. These provide detailed and sometimes surprising insights into the living standards of both the poor and rich. Stockholm in this period was a starkly unequal city, with the top decile of wealth holders owning about 90 per cent of total wealth. We argue that this inequality was the result of deliberate policy – the Mercantilist conviction of “just rewards” for each and every one according to his or her standing. The case of Stockholm shows the need for the historical inequality literature to consider class and power relations to understand the determinants of inequality. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/b2b219cc-9c31-410d-b2c5-87e33e044510
- author
- Bengtsson, Erik LU ; Olsson, Mats LU and Svensson, Patrick LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2019
- type
- Working paper/Preprint
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- wealth, inequality, social stratification, Sweden, Stockholm, probate inventories, D31, I31, N13, N33, P16
- in
- Lund Papers in Economic History. General Issues
- issue
- 2019:210
- pages
- 33 pages
- project
- Wages, economic performance and inequality. Scandinavia in the ‘Little Divergence’ in Europe
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- b2b219cc-9c31-410d-b2c5-87e33e044510
- date added to LUP
- 2019-12-13 09:57:51
- date last changed
- 2021-09-30 12:14:45
@misc{b2b219cc-9c31-410d-b2c5-87e33e044510,
abstract = {{This paper maps social structure, poverty, wealth and economic inequality in Stockholm from 1650 to 1750. We begin by establishing the social structure, using census data and other sources. To study wealth and poverty, the main sources are a sample from the wealth tax of 1715, and probate inventory samples from 1650, 1700 and 1750. These provide detailed and sometimes surprising insights into the living standards of both the poor and rich. Stockholm in this period was a starkly unequal city, with the top decile of wealth holders owning about 90 per cent of total wealth. We argue that this inequality was the result of deliberate policy – the Mercantilist conviction of “just rewards” for each and every one according to his or her standing. The case of Stockholm shows the need for the historical inequality literature to consider class and power relations to understand the determinants of inequality.}},
author = {{Bengtsson, Erik and Olsson, Mats and Svensson, Patrick}},
keywords = {{wealth; inequality; social stratification; Sweden; Stockholm; probate inventories; D31; I31; N13; N33; P16}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Working Paper}},
number = {{2019:210}},
series = {{Lund Papers in Economic History. General Issues}},
title = {{Mercantilist Inequality : Wealth and Poverty in Stockholm 1650-1750}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/73105567/LUPEH_210.pdf}},
year = {{2019}},
}