Wages, prices and living standards in a growing economy. The case of Boston, Massachusetts; [Salaris, preus i nivell de vida en una economia en creixement. El cas de Boston, Massachusetts]

Zegarra L.F. · Revista de Historia Industrial (2025) · DOI: 10.1344/rhiihr.43103

Resumen

This study analyzes the living standards of laborers in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1785–1900. Using a linear programming model, I determine the food basket that provided a balanced nutrition at the lowest possible cost. Then, I estimate the welfare ratio of laborers. The evidence shows that laborers in Boston earned enough to cover their basic needs, and that their real wages increased in the nineteenth century. The results also show that the welfare ratio of laborers in Boston was higher than the ratios in several European cities. Boston can be considered a high-wage economy in the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. © Revista de Historia Industrial – Industrial History Review, 2025.

Instituciones: Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú