The Decline of a Fully Matured Economy: Rural and Urban Real Wages in the Republic of Venice, 1390–1790 Abstract. We investigate the relationship between rural and urban pre-industrial labor markets building a new series of real wages of building and agricult

And the full article here:

doi.org/10.1093/ereh...

Read the blog post here:

ehes.org/2026/04/13/t...

The new article

"The Decline of a Fully Matured Economy: Rural and Urban Real Wages in the Republic of Venice, 1390–1790" By T. Buscemi and L. Ridolfi

Is now available along with a the corresponding blog post.

Was Venice really the benchmark of Italian decline? New wage data (1390–1790) reveal when rural–urban labour markets decoupled (plagues) and how the wage gap evolved. Our novel welfare ratios (maize diffusion + rural prices) revise the long-run picture.

And the blog post here:

ehes.org/2026/04/13/1...

Rural Penalty in Morbidity: Cause-Specific Morbidity among Working-Class Men and Women in Early Twentieth Century Sweden Abstract. This paper uses data from a nationwide Swedish health insurance society (1912–1914) to explore how gendered rural and urban living conditions sha

Find the article here!
doi.org/10.1093/ereh...

Despite higher mortality, previous research suggests that the epidemiological transition occurred earlier in urban areas, where living standards had improved. We show that these advantages were translated into lower sickness rates and reduced prevalence of infectious diseases in urban settings.

New article and blog post!

"Rural Penalty in Morbidity: Cause-Specific Morbidity among Working-Class Men and Women in Early Twentieth Century Sweden" By L. Eriksson, L. F. Andersson and B Harris

War, Finance, and Monetary Reform in Ashanti, 1807–1935 Gold dust was introduced as legal tender in Ashanti during Osei Tutu’s reign, which ended around 1712. During the nineteenth century, gold dust ran short in Ashanti principally because of the changing...

Interesting article about why Ashanti (in modern-day Ghana) didn't mint coins, though they mined gold, were familiar with coins and had the skills to mint coins.

Instead, the kingdom adopted gold dust – weighed precisely for transactions – as currency:

aeh.uwpress.org/content/53/1...

A new issue of the Journal of the History of Economic Thought is now available
www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

Another issue of Economic Thought: History, Philosophy, and Methodology is available online
et.worldeconomicsassociation.org/issues/vol-1...

Historical Monetary Strategies: Achieving Long-Term Price Stability in Medieval Sweden Abstract. This paper examines how medieval Swedish minting authorities (1277–1540) appear to have maintained relative price stability despite repeated deba

And the full article here:

doi.org/10.1093/ereh...

Read the blog post here:

ehes.org/2025/11/10/h...

A new article and blog post

"Historical Monetary Strategies: Achieving Long-Term Price Stability in Medieval Sweden"

By R. Edvinsson and R. Svensson

And the full article here!

academic.oup.com/ereh/advance...

Read the blog post here

ehes.org/2025/11/06/i...

@ingridvandijk.bsky.social shows strong inequality in under-five child mortality marked by intergenerational persistence of child mortality in Zeeland, 1835-1919. The intergenerational similarities are not explained by socioeconomic status or place of residence.

A new article and blog post:

"Inequality in Child Mortality Persists Between Generations in the Netherlands, 1835–1919"

From Ingrid van Dijk (@ingridvandijk.bsky.social)

And the full article here:
academic.oup.com/ereh/advance...

Read the full blog post here:
ehes.org/2025/10/17/w...

This case shows how labour institutions can reinforce gender inequality—even when aiming for justice.
Understanding these early dynamics helps us ask:
What kind of equity do today’s unions promote?

Why?
Early unions—led by men—often marginalised women’s demands to prioritise the male breadwinner model.
Even where women organised, like in Yecla, their wage outcomes lagged behind.

Results?
✅ Unionisation raised men’s wages—sometimes substantially.
❌ Women’s wages did not improve.
The gender wage gap widened after unions emerged.

We built sector-level panel data: wages, union membership (by gender), and control groups from non-unionised sectors.
Using a difference-in-differences approach, we tested the effects of unionisation on wages.

We analysed Yecla (1895–1935), a rural yet industrialising town in south-east Spain.
It was dynamic, politically active, and home to one of the few rural feminist labour movements of the time.

At the dawn of the 20th century, women in a small Spanish agro-town formed a feminist workers' group.
Unions were emerging. Wages were rising.
But not for everyone.
Our study asks: did early unions help close the gender wage gap—or widen it?

New article and blog post now available:

Women’s Union Awakening: Early Impacts on Gender Wage Gaps (Yecla, Spain, 1895-1935)

P Beneito, J J García-Gómez & A Martínez-Soto show unions raised men’s wages—but not women’s, widening the gap. Early unions were ineffective advocates for female workers.

The study examines State intervention into the British patent system during the Napoleonic Wars, and finds that the British military used the patent system to secure access to experimental technologies.

Find the blog post on our website!

ehes.org/2025/09/30/p...

Procuring Promising Provisions: the British Patent System and the Navy Proviso, 1794–1831 Abstract. In 1794, the British State intervened in the patent system by introducing the Navy proviso, a legal proviso targeted at select patents compelling

A new article and blog post!

"Procuring Promising Provisions: the British Patent System and the Navy Proviso, 1794–1831"

By Stephen Billington (@steve-bill-econ.bsky.social) and Joe Lane

doi.org/10.1093/ereh...

Thrilled to announce that I've been elected as a Trustee of the European Historical Economics Society (@theehes.bsky.social)! 🎉

Grateful for this opportunity to serve our scholarly community.

#HistoricalEconomics #EHES #AcademicService