Thu Jan 30 23:55:08 EST 1997
EHS Abstract Submission
(c) 1997 EH.Net
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Name: Hans-Joachim Voth
Email: Hans-Joachim_Voth at mckinsey.com
Institution: McKinsey and Co., Inc., formerly of Clare
College, Cambridge and Nuffield College, Oxford
Co-author: None
Title: How Long Was the Working Day in London in
the 1750s? Evidence from the Courtroom
Internet Address
of abstracted work:
http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/Economics/History/longday1.ps and
(zipped) http://www.nuff.ox.ac.uk/Economics/History/long1_ps.zip
By mail:
McKinsey & Co., Inc.
Kunstblock, Ottostrasse 5,
8000 Munchen
Germany
Language: English
Abstract:
Little is known about the length of the working year in
pre-industrial times. This paper develops a new method for
analysing patterns of time-use in the past. Witnesses' accounts
in court records, it will be argued, reflect the actual behaviour
of a group that is representative of the population at large.
This new technique is applied to London during the middle of the
eighteenth century. Results are compared with evidence from other
eighteenth-century sources. These findings have important
implications for our understanding of the Industrial Revolution.
Our estimate of the number of working days helps to resolve some
apparent contradictions between wage and income measures.
The paper itself is (c) Hans-Joachim Voth, 1996. All rights
reserved. Short sections of text, not to exceed two paragraphs,
may be quoted without explicit permission provided that full
credit, including (c) notice, is given to the source.
Bibliography: University of Oxford, Discussion Papers in
Economic and Social History, No. 6 (April 1996).
Subject: T
Geographical Area: 4
Country/Region: England
Time Period: 6