Template-type: ReDIF-Paper 1.0
Author-Name: Mark Koyama
Author-Workplace-Name: Wadham College and Department of Economics, University of Oxford, UK.
Title:  The Price of Time and Labour Supply: From the Black Death to the Industrious Revolution
Abstract: In pre-industrial economies labour supply curves often bend backwards at very 
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.
Classification-JEL: N23, J22
Keywords: labour supply, industrious revolution, consumption, time allocation
Length: 49 pages
Creation-Date: 2009-09-01
Number: _078
File-URL: http://www.nuffield.ox.ac.uk/economics/History/Paper78/78koyama.pdf
File-Format: application/pdf
Handle: RePEc:nuf:esohwp:_078