Migration in Preindustrial Germany

Hochstadt, Steve

doi:10.1017/s0008938900013935

Cited by 30 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Therefore, we performed a robustness check that relies on the observation that mainly the poorest occupational classes were likely to migrate in search of seasonal work (Hochstadt 1983). In particular, we estimated the effect of rye prices on conceptions for two groups of occupational categories: 1) farmers, white-collar workers, and skilled workers and 2) unskilled workers and workers with missing occupations.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, if workers foresaw bad times, the migration could have happened even before the harvest, depressing conceptions even earlier. For example, prior to 1700 thousands of poor peasants migrated every summer from north-west Germany to Holland to help with the hay harvest (Hochstadt 1981(Hochstadt , 1983Knodel 1988; as referenced in Dribe and Scalone 2010). However, as Dribe and Scalone (2010) argued, in a grain-producing economy like that of the German areas under study, most farm labourers were expected to stay home until all the crops had been harvested because the work was usually available locally, even in bad economic times.…”

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Detecting the Evolution of Deliberate Fertility Control before the Demographic Transition in Germany

Amialchuk¹,

Dimitrova²

2012

DemRes

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting the Evolution of Deliberate Fertility Control before the Demographic Transition in Germany

Amialchuk¹,

Dimitrova²

2012

DemRes

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“…Seasonal migration appears to have been quite common in preindustrial Germany (Hochstadt 1981(Hochstadt , 1983), although we lack more precise information for the communities under study. For example, in the eighteenth century, thousands of poor peasants migrated every summer from the northwest of Germany to Holland to help with the hay harvest (Hochstadt 1981(Hochstadt , 1983).…”

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For example, in the eighteenth century, thousands of poor peasants migrated every summer from the northwest of Germany to Holland to help with the hay harvest (Hochstadt 1981(Hochstadt , 1983). …”

Section: Analytical Frameworkmentioning

confidence: 99%

Detecting Deliberate Fertility Control in Pre-transitional Populations: Evidence from six German villages, 1766–1863

Dribe

Scalone

2010

Eur J Population

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This article deals with the possible existence of deliberate fertility control before the fertility transition. The timing of the fertility response to economic stress, as measured by fluctuations in grain prices, is used as a measure of deliberate, but non-parity specific, control. Birth histories from six German villages , including information on occupation of the husband, are used together with community-wide grain price series in a micro level eventhistory analysis. The results show a negative fertility response to grain prices both in the year immediately following the price change, and with a one-year lag. The response was also highly different between socioeconomic groups, with the most pronounced effects among the unskilled laborers. Moreover, the response in this group was very rapid, already present 3-6 months after the price change. Because all involuntary fertility responses to economic hardship (e.g. malnutrition, spousal separation, and spontaneous abortion) come with a considerable time lag, the existence of such a rapid response among the lower social groups suggests that individual agency (deliberate control) was an important aspect of reproductive behavior also before the fertility transition.Keywords: Deliberate fertility control, natural fertility, historical demography, Cox proportional hazards model, economic stress 1 Mise en évidence d'un contrôle volontaire des naissances dans des populations pré-transitionnelles: Le cas de 6 villages allemands, 1766-1863 Abstract This article deals with the possible existence of deliberate fertility control before the fertility transition. The timing of the fertility response to economic stress, as measured by fluctuations in grain prices, is used as a measure of deliberate, but non-parity specific, control. Birth histories from six German villages (1766-1863), including information on occupation of the husband, are used together with community-wide grain price series in a micro level eventhistory analysis. The results show a negative fertility response to grain prices both in the year immediately following the price change, and with a one-year lag. The response was also highly different between socioeconomic groups, with the most pronounced effects among unskilled laborers. Moreover, the response in this group was very rapid, already present 3-6 months after the price change. Because all involuntary fertility responses to economic hardship (e.g. malnutrition, spousal separation, and spontaneous abortion) come with a considerable time lag, the existence of such a rapid response among the lower social groups suggests that individual agency (deliberate control) was an important aspect of reproductive behavior even before the fertility transition.Keywords: Deliberate fertility control, natural fertility, historical demography, Cox proportional hazards model, economic stress Résumé Cet article s'intéresse à l'existence possible d'un contrôle volontaire des naissances avant la transition de la fécondité. Le calendrier de l'évolution de la fécondité e...

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“…Hochstadt, ‘Migration’; Gerhard, ed., Löhne , pp. 6–7; Ehmer and Reith, ‘Die mitteleuropäische Stadt’.…”

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The timing and pattern of real wage divergence in pre‐industrial Europe: evidence from Germany, c. 1500–1850

Pfister

2017

The Economic History Review

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This study uses price information relating to 12 towns and wage information from 18 towns to develop a real wage index for unskilled urban labourers in Germany during the three-and-a-half centuries preceding the onset of rapid industrialization.Combining the new series with information from other parts of Europe establishes two stages of real wage divergence during the seventeenth to nineteenth century. The first occurred in the middle of the seventeenth century when real wages in centres of trade and finance located on the rim of the North Sea rose far above the level prevailing in their hinterland. The second stage unfolded from the second quarter of the eighteenth century when the real wage in south England, northern and central Italy, and Germany began to diverge; Germany followed a middle path between the other two countries. The second commercial revolution, which improved business techniques and promoted Smithian growth, goes a long way towards accounting for this development.

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Migration in Preindustrial Germany

Cited by 30 publications

References 19 publications

Detecting the Evolution of Deliberate Fertility Control before the Demographic Transition in Germany

Detecting the Evolution of Deliberate Fertility Control before the Demographic Transition in Germany

Detecting Deliberate Fertility Control in Pre-transitional Populations: Evidence from six German villages, 1766–1863

The timing and pattern of real wage divergence in pre‐industrial Europe: evidence from Germany, c. 1500–1850

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