Consumption and Living Standards in Early Modern Rural Households Probate Evidence from Southern Sweden, c. 1680-1860
(2023) In Lund Papers in Economic History p.1-50- Abstract
- This paper presents new estimates of the material livings standards among the rural population in southern Sweden from the 1680’s up to 1865. Utilizing a newly constructed database of circa 1800 probate inventories from the benchmark periods 1680-1720, 1780-85, and 1860-65, we analyse the development of consumption patterns for rural households. Wefind that that all rural households, no matter their socio-economic status, diversified their composition of consumption goods with a special focus towards increased comfort, rather than household reproduction, during the second half of the eighteenth century. The most visible change was in the diversification of cooking- and dining-ware, which corresponds to a contemporary rebuilding of peasant... (More)
- This paper presents new estimates of the material livings standards among the rural population in southern Sweden from the 1680’s up to 1865. Utilizing a newly constructed database of circa 1800 probate inventories from the benchmark periods 1680-1720, 1780-85, and 1860-65, we analyse the development of consumption patterns for rural households. Wefind that that all rural households, no matter their socio-economic status, diversified their composition of consumption goods with a special focus towards increased comfort, rather than household reproduction, during the second half of the eighteenth century. The most visible change was in the diversification of cooking- and dining-ware, which corresponds to a contemporary rebuilding of peasant homes to include purpose-built kitchens. This diversification and increase in comfortable consumption furthermore correspond with a diversification of household production strategies during a period of stagnant, of even decreasing, economic growth before the Swedish economic catch-up of the nineteenth century. This suggests that changes in consumption during the period were a conscious decision, likely made possible by increasing access to credit and inter-regional markets. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4504fe4b-5592-4743-9d63-96c261b8ae36
- author
- Falk, Marcus LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2023
- type
- Working paper/Preprint
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Early modern history, Early modern Sweden, Material history, Consumption, Industrious Revolution, N3
- in
- Lund Papers in Economic History
- issue
- 2023:254
- pages
- 50 pages
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 4504fe4b-5592-4743-9d63-96c261b8ae36
- date added to LUP
- 2023-10-24 09:34:33
- date last changed
- 2023-10-24 17:55:17
@misc{4504fe4b-5592-4743-9d63-96c261b8ae36,
abstract = {{This paper presents new estimates of the material livings standards among the rural population in southern Sweden from the 1680’s up to 1865. Utilizing a newly constructed database of circa 1800 probate inventories from the benchmark periods 1680-1720, 1780-85, and 1860-65, we analyse the development of consumption patterns for rural households. Wefind that that all rural households, no matter their socio-economic status, diversified their composition of consumption goods with a special focus towards increased comfort, rather than household reproduction, during the second half of the eighteenth century. The most visible change was in the diversification of cooking- and dining-ware, which corresponds to a contemporary rebuilding of peasant homes to include purpose-built kitchens. This diversification and increase in comfortable consumption furthermore correspond with a diversification of household production strategies during a period of stagnant, of even decreasing, economic growth before the Swedish economic catch-up of the nineteenth century. This suggests that changes in consumption during the period were a conscious decision, likely made possible by increasing access to credit and inter-regional markets.}},
author = {{Falk, Marcus}},
keywords = {{Early modern history; Early modern Sweden; Material history; Consumption; Industrious Revolution; N3}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Working Paper}},
number = {{2023:254}},
pages = {{1--50}},
series = {{Lund Papers in Economic History}},
title = {{Consumption and Living Standards in Early Modern Rural Households Probate Evidence from Southern Sweden, c. 1680-1860}},
url = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/162813136/LUPEH_254.pdf}},
year = {{2023}},
}