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Working days in a London construction team in the eighteenth century: evidence from St Paul's Cathedral

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  • Judy Z. Stephenson
Abstract
This article provides new information and data on the work and pay of skilled and semi‐skilled men on a large London construction project in the early 1700s. It offers firm‐level evidence on the employment relation in the construction industry at the time and sheds some light on the number of days worked per year and per week, showing that employment was more irregular and seasonal than current estimates of income infer. The patterns are considered in the context of new debates about industriousness and economic growth.

Suggested Citation

  • Judy Z. Stephenson, 2020. "Working days in a London construction team in the eighteenth century: evidence from St Paul's Cathedral," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 73(2), pages 409-430, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:ehsrev:v:73:y:2020:i:2:p:409-430
    DOI: 10.1111/ehr.12883
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Sara Horrell, 2023. "Household consumption patterns and the consumer price index, England, 1260–1869," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 76(4), pages 1023-1050, November.
    3. Joyce Burnette, 2021. "Missing work: absenteeism at Pepperell Manufacturing Co. in 1883," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 15(3), pages 755-786, September.
    4. Luis Felipe Zegarra, 2024. "Wages, prices and living standards in Spanish America: evidence from Lima," Cliometrica, Springer;Cliometric Society (Association Francaise de Cliométrie), vol. 18(3), pages 837-867, September.
    5. Mario García-Zúñiga, 2020. "Builders’ Working Time in Eighteenth Century Madrid," Working Papers 0195, European Historical Economics Society (EHES).
    6. Kennedy, Christopher, 2022. "The Intersection of Biophysical Economics and Political Economy," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    7. Benjamin Schneider, 2023. "Technological unemployment in the British industrial revolution: the destruction of hand spinning," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _207, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.

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