Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Sticky Wages and the Great Depression: Evidence from the United Kingdom

Lennard, Jason LU (2023) In European Review of Economic History 27(2). p.196-222
Abstract
How sticky were wages during the Great Depression? Although classic accounts emphasise the importance of nominal rigidity in amplifying deflationary shocks, the evidence is limited. In this paper, I calculate the degree of nominal wage rigidity in the United Kingdom between the wars using new granular data covering millions of wages. I find that nominal wages changed infrequently but that wage cuts were more common than wage rises on average. Nominal wage adjustment fluctuated over time and by state, so that in 1931 amid falling output and prices more than one-third of workers received wage cuts.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
European Review of Economic History
volume
27
issue
2
pages
196 - 222
publisher
Oxford University Press
external identifiers
  • scopus:85148947292
ISSN
1474-0044
DOI
10.1093/ereh/heac014
language
English
LU publication?
no
id
ce6fa4ef-3609-4086-b5d5-8d55790c8eb2
date added to LUP
2022-09-13 14:49:37
date last changed
2023-10-20 04:00:45
@article{ce6fa4ef-3609-4086-b5d5-8d55790c8eb2,
  abstract     = {{How sticky were wages during the Great Depression? Although classic accounts emphasise the importance of nominal rigidity in amplifying deflationary shocks, the evidence is limited. In this paper, I calculate the degree of nominal wage rigidity in the United Kingdom between the wars using new granular data covering millions of wages. I find that nominal wages changed infrequently but that wage cuts were more common than wage rises on average. Nominal wage adjustment fluctuated over time and by state, so that in 1931 amid falling output and prices more than one-third of workers received wage cuts.}},
  author       = {{Lennard, Jason}},
  issn         = {{1474-0044}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{2}},
  pages        = {{196--222}},
  publisher    = {{Oxford University Press}},
  series       = {{European Review of Economic History}},
  title        = {{Sticky Wages and the Great Depression: Evidence from the United Kingdom}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ereh/heac014}},
  doi          = {{10.1093/ereh/heac014}},
  volume       = {{27}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}