These elites were much more involved in firms operating in the CFS than in other Belgian firms.

In this article an analysis of director interlocks between firms operating in the Congo Free State(CFS) and Belgian banks listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange reveals that Belgian financial elites were a crucial contributor to CFS entrepreneurship.

<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library This study investigates the role of financial elites in the Congo Free State (CFS). An analysis of director interlocks between firms operating in the CFS and Belgian banks listed on the Brussels Stoc....

Now on Early View: 'Belgian financial elites and destructive entrepreneurship in King Leopold's Congo free state'.
By Marc Deloof.
@uantwerpen.be
#EHS100
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

This paper examines why many English patent applications between 1783 and 1834 failed. Using new archival data, it shows that costly and strategically manipulated opposition procedures likely shaped who secured patents, with implications for how innovation was filtered in the early system.

Success and failure in England's patent system: New evidence from patent applications, 1783–1834.
By Stephen D. Billington & Joe Lane.
@ulsteruni.bsky.social @uor-research.bsky.social
#EHS100
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

The implication of this for tenurial change are explored.

This article offers the first national survey of the extreme weather conditions & the associated economic crisis of the 1430s across England, one consequence of which was severe disruption to the customary land market which lasted for the next three decades.

<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library The 1430s were characterized by extreme weather conditions, food and fodder shortages, and high mortalities among animals and humans, although the severity of events and their consequences in England...

Now on Early View:
'Extreme weather and economic crisis in the 1430s in England, and the implications for tenurial change'.
By Mark Bailey.
@uniofeastanglia.bsky.social
#EHS100
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

It shows that the VTE–innovation nexus was influenced by existing human capital levels, particularly the relative diffusion of mass education versus secondary schooling.

The diffusion of VTE schools was linked to socio-economic factors, highlighting the role of demand. In turn, the presence of VTE schools correlates with an increasing number of patents.

This paper presents a brand-new dataset of VTE schools across Italy’s provinces in the period 1861–1911 & performs a two-stage analysis. First, it investigates factors associated with the establishment of VTE schools. Second, it studies he correlation between VTE & innovation using new patent data.

Whilst the education–innovation nexus was explored in previous research, the relationship between the diffusion of vocational and technical education (VTE) and inventive activity has not been assessed.

This article argues that Italy’s slow human capital accumulation during the 19th & 20th centuries is a key determinant of the limited inventive activity of the country.

<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library Italy's slow human capital accumulation during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries is a key determinant of the limited inventive activity of the country. Whilst the education–innovation nexus was ...

Now on Early View: 'Catching the technological frontier? Vocational and technical education (VTE) and inventive activity in Italy, 1861–1911'.
By Gabriele Cappelli, Pau Insa-Sánchez & Michelangelo Vasta.
@gaber86.bsky.social @cepr.org
#EHS100
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

How empowered were women in pre-industrial East Asia? A study for Japan, 1600–1890, finds low gender wage gaps at 0.7. However, these women were not empowered due to low wage levels and the widespread land ownership by men, but not women. This may be why they married universally.

<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library Using new evidence from servant contracts, 1600–1890, we estimate women's wages in Japan. Women's wages could only sustain 1.3–2.3 people up to 1900, the lowest recorded in the pre-industrial world. ...

Now on Early View: 'Women's wages and empowerment: Pre-industrial Japan, 1600–1890'.
By Yuzuru Kumon and Kazuho Sakai.
@yuzurukumon.bsky.social @manchester.ac.uk
#EHS100
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Its findings also provide, for the first time, a full picture of the totality of Scotland’s economy over the last 70 years by incorporating an estimate of North Sea oil and gas gross value added from within Scotland’s territorial waters.

Through this work it offers new insights on the performance of the post-war Scottish economy, including its relative performance to the UK and its industrial makeup.

This article provides a comprehensive time series of historical National Accounts for Scotland (onshore and offshore) from 1948 to 2018. It includes a detailed breakdown by income component and industrial sector using methods that are forward and backward compatible.

<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library This paper provides a comprehensive time series of historical National Accounts for Scotland (onshore and offshore) from 1948 to 2018. It includes a detailed breakdown by income component and industr...

Now on Early View: '70 years of Scottish National Accounts: 1948–2018'.
By Graeme Roy, Niall G. MacKenzie & Sandy Stewart.
@graemeroy.bsky.social @uofgasbs.bsky.social @unistrathclyde.bsky.social
#EHS100
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Sellers being in urgent financial situations is positively correlated with the sales price.

Results from hedonic ordinary and quantile regressions reveal unique housing price determinants tied to the region’s cultural background: property orientation, proximity to ancestral halls and Buddhist temples, and seller’s gender.

This article uses a novel housing transaction dataset with more than 1000 observations from the historic Huizhou prefecture in south China. It develops housing price indices spanning the late Ming, Qing, and Republic of China eras(1570–1949).

<em>The Economic History Review</em> | EHS Journal | Wiley Online Library Economic studies on historical housing markets have gained increased popularity in recent years, yet remain limited by data scarcity. In this paper, a novel housing transaction dataset with more than...

Now on Early View: 'Long-run housing price indices and determinants: New data from Huizhou, China, 1570–1949'.
By Siyu Pan.
#EHS100
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

This paper studies merchant apprenticeship based on records from sixteenth-century Germany. It contributes to literatures on human capital formation and the institutional foundations of pre-modern long-distance trade.

Now on Early View: 'Training as a club good: Merchant apprenticeship in sixteenth-century Europe'.
By Esther Sahle.
#EHS100
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

The latter had better opportunities to smooth consumption over the life cycle by setting money aside, although manual-worker households that survived into old age had some capacity for small savings, which may have eased but not offset the decline.

Manual-worker households suffered a more pronounced decline in income during these later years than non-manual-worker households.

this study finds that the manual-worker household size outgrew income in early adulthood, creating a temporary downturn in welfare ratios. Living standards rose in subsequent stages but declined again when the head of the household approached old age.

This study uses a random sample of approximately 400 male-headed households to examine how living standards developed and whether they were able to save to mitigate income decline in old age.