Labour Market Formation Patterns in Nineteenth Century Catalonia

Abstract

In this paper we portray the features of the Catalan textiles labour market in a period of technological change. Labour supply and demand and a gendered view of living standards are presented. A first set of results shows that labour supply adjusts to changes in labour demand through the spread of new demographic attitudes. In this respect we suggest that the labour economic agents (or labour population) were able to modify the economic conditions of their children. A second set of results refers to living standards and income distribution inequality. In this respect we see that unemployment and protectionism were the main sources of income inequality. A third set of results deals with the extreme labour market segmentation according to gender. Since women’s real wages did not obey to an economic rationale we conclude that women were outside the labour market.