Trends in real wages in Denmark since the Late Middle Ages

This article constructs long-span time series indices on wages in Denmark and explores the growth in living standards in the pre-industrial era. There were several persistent upward and downward trends in real annual earnings from 1500 to 1820, but no clear upward long-term trend. This finding seems hard to reconcile with Maddison's figure for the average annual growth in real GDP per capita in Denmark (0.17%) over the same period. This is the case, even if the growth rate in pre-industrial annual earnings is underestimated by 0.05%–0.06% per annum due to an increased number of working days.     

Entry into working life: Internal migration and the job match quality of higher‐educated graduates

We estimate the impact of internal migration on job‐match quality for recent Dutch university and college graduates. We find positive yet modest wage returns. After controlling for the self‐selection of migrants with an IV approach, this effect is no longer significant for university graduates and all graduates from peripheral areas. We also find that, for our alternative job‐match measures, where there is evidence of migrant self‐selection, controlling for self‐selection strongly reduces the effect of internal migration on job‐match quality. In some cases, the returns on internal migration are found to be negative, which may signal forced migration.     

西方学界关于中世纪英国工资史的研究

工资史是经济史研究中的一个重要组成部分,西方史学界对中世纪英国工资史的关注由来已久,大致经历了三个阶段:开端,主要是数据的统计与整理;拓展,经历了人口论和货币论关于工资涨幅影响因素的争论;深入,从经济—社会史角度研究工资史。理清楚这些线索,对我们进行中世纪英国工资水平的探讨无疑具有重要的意义。     

近代江南农村的工价及其影响——兼论小农与经营式农场衰败的关系

近代江南农村的工价持续上涨。虽然对雇主而言工价持续偏高 ,但比照实际购买和扣除通货膨胀的因素 ,雇工收入仍然偏低 ,从而导致雇工短缺。而农业经营的普遍亏损 ,使得以往作为雇主的小农只能减少包括雇工在内的所有农业投入。因此 ,致使该区经营式农场未能发展起来的原因 ,不在于小农转向更为便宜的家庭劳动力 ,而在于这时发生了单纯依靠农业已无法维持生存 ,不得不重新配置资源的近代转型     

Complexities in the spatial scope of agglomeration economies

This paper argues that the spatial scope of agglomeration economies is more complex than is often assumed in the literature. We provide insight into this issue by showing that agglomeration on short distances (<5 km) does not significantly affect wages, whereas it has a significant and positive effect on medium distances (5–10 km). This effect attenuates rapidly across geographic space, becoming insignificant after 40–80 km. We offer several explanations for this observed distance decay pattern. The results do not imply, however, that nearby agglomeration is irrelevant to the wage formation: only highly urbanized areas benefit from agglomeration on longer distances. Furthermore, this article finds no evidence that foreign economic mass affects wages in the Netherlands, which suggests that national borders are still a substantial barrier for economic interaction.     

What drives the spatial wage premium in formal and informal labor markets? The case of Ecuador

This article investigates the incidence of agglomeration externalities in Ecuador, a small-sized, middle-income developing country. In particular, we analyze the role of the informal sector within these relations, since informal employment accounts for a significant part of total employment in the developing countries. Using individual level data and instrumental variable techniques, we investigate the impact of spatial externalities, in terms of population density, local specialization and urban size, on the wages of workers in Ecuadorian cities. The results show that spatial externalities matter also for a small developing country. Moreover, analysis of the interaction between spatial externalities and informality shows that, on average, workers employed in the informal sector do not enjoy significant benefits from agglomeration externalities. Finally, by investigating the possible channels behind spatial agglomeration gains we show that the advantages from agglomeration for formal sector workers may well be accounted for by better job-quality matches and, to a lesser extent, by learning externalities. For informal sector workers, our findings also suggest possible gains from job changes, which offset a penalty for remaining employed in the same occupation.     

Differences in hi‐tech immigrant earnings and wages across Canadian cities

This paper examines the relative earnings and wages of immigrants working in the hi‐tech sector in Canada's cities. Between 1990 and 2000, a sizeable earnings advantage of immigrants over nonimmigrants employed in the hi‐tech sector evaporated, and this change was most noticeable in the largest cities. We use population census microdata to examine the geographical dimensions of this shift. After controlling for individual characteristics, we show that immigrants in the largest and tech‐intensive cities earn significantly less relative to nonimmigrants than those in midsized and smaller cities. We also present results comparing the hi‐tech immigrant wage and earnings gap for the five largest Canadian cities. The findings are consistent with the notion that geographic differences are an important component of the overall earnings gap between immigrants and nonimmigrants.     

The global city thesis — social polarization and changes in the distribution of wages

The global city thesis by which Sassen (1991) has linked globalization with increased social polarization has attracted much attention and caused considerable discussion over the past decade. This article illustrates divergent approaches that have been taken to the study of social polarization and provides an overview of the issues that have been discussed in relation to the polarization debate. I argue that the global city thesis has been misleading and that the empirical work underlying it has been too limited. Thereafter I test the empirical basis for Sassen's thesis in an analysis of the distribution of wages in the New York Metropolitan Area during the period 1970 to 1990.     

IN SEARCH FOR THE ROOTS OF ENVIRONMENTAL CONCERN

Contrary to widespread conception, environmental issues were commonly debated in public already over a hundred years ago. Based on an extensive newspaper study this paper concentrates on water management and animal welfare issues in the local newspapers in the city of Turku, Finland, in 1890–1950. At the time, the role of the newspapers was important in shaping public understanding of environmental issues. Although the amount of environment‐related writing remained scarce in comparison to today's media, the debate was continuous and sometimes even fierce. Both environmental protection and animal welfare received very positive comments in the press and they were considered important aims. The discussion reflected the opinions of the middle‐class and especially the well‐educated professionals and officials, whose views dominated the debate. However, animal protection also gave women a possibility to get their voice heard. Ordinary newspaper‐reading city dwellers must have been well aware of the local environmental problems already in the early 20th century.