Consumption, Social Capital, and the “Industrious Revolution” in Early Modern Germany

Abstract

This study uses evidence from central Europe to address open questions about the Consumer and Industrious Revolutions. Did they happen outside the North Atlantic economies? Were they shaped by the “social capital” of traditional institutions? How were they affected by social constraints on women? It finds that people in central Europe did desire to increase market work and consumption. But elites used the social capital of traditional institutions to oppose new work and consumption practices, especially by women, migrants, and the poor. Although they seldom blocked new practices wholly, they delayed them, limited them socially, and increased their costs.

Does the European Marriage Pattern Explain Economic Growth?

“…Outside these two precociously advanced market economies, women had a much worse economic position. In Germany, Scandinavia, France, and many other regions, as historians of crafts and commerce have found, the EMP prevailed but women's participation in many occupations was significantly restricted by guilds of craftsmen, retailers, and merchants (Manninen 1984; Wiesner 1986, 1989, 2000; Collins 1989; Coffin 1994; Ogilvie 1997, 2003, 2004, 2010; Hafter 2007; Lanza 2007). Yet these are the precise corporative institutions which some of the new literature regards as a beneficial offshoot of the EMP (Greif 20061; De Moor and Van Zanden 2010).…”

“…Yet these are the precise corporative institutions which some of the new literature regards as a beneficial offshoot of the EMP (Greif 20061; De Moor and Van Zanden 2010). In many regions of Switzerland, Germany, and France, as local studies indicate, the EMP prevailed but women's work, wages, property rights, and in some cases even their consumption choices, were restricted by local communities —again, by corporative institutions (Ogilvie 1997, 2003, 2004, 2010; Dürr 1995; Ryter 1997; Hafter 2007; Ulbrich 1999). Among servants and laborers, the female-male wage ratio lay between 0.6 and 0.7 in early modern England and the Netherlands, but was as low as 0.4 in regions of Germany where wage ceilings and employment restrictions were enforced against women workers—again, by guilds and local communities (Ogilvie 2003, 2004; Van Zanden 2011).…”

“…Weaker guilds imposing looser constraints on women's work existed both in eastern Europe (in the absence of the EMP) and in England and the Netherlands (in its presence) (Ogilvie 2003). Village communities that limited female autonomy were strong in both Russia (outside the EMP) and Germany or Bohemia (where the EMP prevailed) (Ogilvie 1997, 2003, 2004, 2010; Dennison and Ogilvie 2007; Dennison 2011). Corporative institutions played a central role in constraining women's economic activities, but show no systematic relationship with the EMP, counter to the recent literature.…”

The remarkable wealth of the Dutch Cape Colony: measurements from eighteenth‐century probate inventories1

“…37 37 For a selection of good summaries on these, see Pomeranz, Great divergence ; Overton, Whittle, Dean, and Hann, Production and consumption ; McCants, ‘After‐death inventories’; eadem, ‘Exotic goods’; de Vries, Industrious revolution ; Ogilvie, ‘Consumption’. …”

Rural Economies and Transitions to Capitalism:Germany andEngland Compared (c.1200–c.1800)

“…Ogilvie argues that because of restrictive institutional structures, there was no ‘industrious revolution’ in Baden‐Württemberg (Ogilvie ); but her own figures show both efforts to increase consumption, and a growth of retail. An increase in legislation against various forms of consumption could suggest an increase in such consumption (Howell , esp.…”