Data and Code for "Epidemics, inequality and poverty in preindustrial and early industrial times "

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Guido Alfani, Bocconi University

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
DataFigures.xlsx	application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet	251.6 KB	10/13/2020 03:14:AM
Fig1_ConfIntervals_Bootstrap.do	text/x-stata-syntax	977 bytes	08/31/2020 07:05:AM
README_EpidemicsInequality&Poverty.pdf	application/pdf	299.9 KB	10/13/2020 03:09:AM
Setup.do	text/x-stata-syntax	524 bytes	08/31/2020 07:05:AM

Project Citation:

Alfani, Guido. Data and Code for "Epidemics, inequality and poverty in preindustrial and early industrial times ". Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2022. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2022-02-28. https://doi.org/10.3886/E120904V1

Project Description

Summary: Recent research has explored the distributive consequences of major historical epidemics, and the current crisis triggered by Covid-19 prompts us to look at the past for insights about how pandemics can affect inequalities in income, wealth, and health. The fourteenth-century Black Death, which is usually believed to have led to a significant reduction in economic inequality, has attracted the greatest attention. However, the picture becomes much more complex if other epidemics are considered. This article covers the worst epidemics of preindustrial times, from Justinian’s Plague of 540-41 to the last great European plagues of the seventeenth century, as well as the cholera waves of the nineteenth. It shows how the distributive outcomes of lethal epidemics do not only depend upon mortality rates, but are mediated by a range of factors, chief among them the institutional framework in place at the onset of each crisis. It then explores how past epidemics affected poverty, arguing that highly lethal epidemics could reduce its prevalence through two deeply different mechanisms: redistribution towards the poor, or extermination of the poor. It concludes by recalling the historical connection between the progressive weakening and spacing in time of lethal epidemics and improvements in life expectancy, and by discussing how epidemics affected inequality in health and living standards.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms: wealth inequality; income inequality; poverty; epidemics; pandemics; plague; cholera

JEL Classification:
      D31 Personal Income, Wealth, and Their Distributions
      D63 Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
      I14 Health and Inequality
      I30 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: General
      J11 Demographic Trends, Macroeconomic Effects, and Forecasts
      N30 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: General, International, or Comparative
      N33 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: Europe: Pre-1913

Geographic Coverage: Europe and Mediterranean

Time Period(s): 1300 – 1910 (from immediate pre-Black Death period until early twentieth century, with some additional information about Justinian's Plague of 540-41)

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Published Versions

V1 [2022-02-28]

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