Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/247114 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Series/Report no.: 
EHES Working Paper No. 184
Publisher: 
European Historical Economics Society (EHES), s.l.
Abstract: 
The Black Death was the most devastating demographic shock in recorded human history. However, the effects in the European population were highly asymmetrical as were its economic consequences. This paper surveys the short and long run economic effects of the plague in Spain in European perspective. While the demographic impact in Spain was moderate compared to the European average, the economic effects were more severe and incomes per head fell sharply. This was a consequence of the existence of a frontier economy in Spain characterised by a relative scarcity of labour and a fragile equilibrium between factors of production. Unlike most of Europe, in Spain the Black Death increased inequality as the remuneration of labour decreased more rapidly than proprietors' gains. In the long term the Plague reinforced the frontier economy status.
Subjects: 
Black Death
Frontier economy
Malthusian
Spain
income
inequality
JEL: 
I10
N13
N33
O52
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.