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The Price of Time and Labour Supply: From the Black Dea=
th
to the Industrious Revolution
Mark Koyama
Wadham College, Oxford
Abstract
In pre-industrial economies labour supply curves often bend backwards at very<= o:p>
low
levels of income. This changed prior to the industrial revolution: total
working
hours
increased (De Vries (1993, Voth
(1998,2000). This paper examines
this
industrious revolution using a model of labour supply where consumption
takes
time. This analytical framework enables us to draw a distinction between
a
pessimistic account of the industrious revolution as suggested by Van Zanden
(2006)
and an optimistic account advanced by de Vries =
(2008)
of an industrious
revolution
driven by changing patterns of demand. This formulation clarifies
the
importance of new consumption opportunities in driving hours worked.=