Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-20T04:10:50.117Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

WHY DID THE MEDITERRANEAN FAIL TO GLOBALISE? REAL WAGES AND LABOUR MARKET INTEGRATION IN THE 19TH CENTURY*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 April 2015

Paul Caruana-Galizia
Paul Caruana-Galizia*
Affiliation:
Humboldt University of Berlin
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Can low emigration rates from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic economy partly explain its relative economic decline over the 19th century? Time series tests of real wage integration show that the Maghreb and Eastern Mediterranean exported enough labourers to experience labour market integration, while the emigration rates of the northern Mediterranean, were not high enough. As the latter group comprised most of the region’s economic weight, the Mediterranean as a whole was held back. The wage gap between the first two groups and the Atlantic economy was the highest, but journey costs relative to wage levels were roughly similar across the Mediterranean. The incentive-vs.-cost arithmetic favoured emigration from the Maghreb and Eastern Mediterranean.

Resumen

¿Pueden las bajas tasas de emigración del Mediterráneo en la economía atlántica explicar en parte su declive económico a lo largo del siglo XIX? Los test de series temporales de integración de salarios reales muestran que los países del Magreb y del Mediterráneo oriental exportaron trabajadores suficientes para experimentar integración en los mercados de trabajo; sin embargo, las tasas de emigración de los países del Norte del Mediterráneo no fueron lo suficientemente elevadas. Como este segundo grupo representaba el mayor peso económico de la región, el conjunto del Mediterráneo se resintió. El diferencial salarial entre los dos primeros grupos y la economía atlántica fue uno de los más elevados, pero el coste del transporte en relación a los niveles salariales era más o menos similar en todo el Mediterráneo. El cálculo «incentivo frente a coste’ favoreció la emigración de los países del Magreb y del Mediterráneo oriental.

Keywords

real wageslabour marketsglobalisationmigrationMediterraneansalarios realesmercados de trabajoglobalizaciónemigraciónMediterráneo

JEL classification

F22: International Migration F15: Economic Integration O11: Macroeconomic Analyses of Economic Development N33: Europe: Pre-1913
Type
Articles/Artículos
Information
Revista de Historia Economica - Journal of Iberian and Latin American Economic History , Volume 33 , Issue 2 , September 2015 , pp. 257 - 285
Check for updates
Copyright
© Instituto Figuerola, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, 2015 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This paper is based on my forthcoming book, Mediterranean Labor Markets in the First Age of Globalization: An Economic History of Real Wages and Market Integration. The author thank Peter Lindert, Blanca Sanchez-Alonso, and Jeffrey Williamson for their comments on an early version of the manuscript, and three anonymous reviewers for their comments. While at LSE, the author was funded by a UK Economic and Social Research Council Studentship and an EU-Malta Steps Doctoral Scholarship.

a

Department of Economic History, London School of Economics, Houghton St, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom; Marie Curie Early-Career Fellow School of Business and Economics; Humboldt University of Berlin Spandauer Strasse 1, 10435 Berlin, Germany. [email protected]

References

Allen, R. (2001): «The Great Divergence in European Wages and Prices from the Middle Ages to the First World War». Explorations in Economic History, 38, pp. 411-447.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Alvarez-Nogal, C., and Prados de la Escosura, L. (2007): «The Decline of Spain (1500-1850): Conjectural Estimates». European Review of Economic History, 2, pp. 319-366.Google Scholar
Alvarez-Nogal, C., and Prados de la Escosura, L. (2013): «The Rise and Fall of Spain (1270-1850)». Economic History Review, 66 (1), pp. 1-37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bennoune, M. (2002): The Making of Contemporary Algeria, 1830-1987. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Bordo, M.; Taylor, A., and Williamson, J. (eds) (2003): Globalization in Historical Perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyer, G., and Hatton, T. (1994): «Regional Labor Market Integration in England and Wales», in M. MacKinnon, and G. Grantham (eds), Labour Market Evolution. New York: Routledge, pp. 84-106.Google Scholar
Broadberry, S.; Federico, G., and Klein, A. (2010): «An Economic History of Modern Europe: Sectoral Developments, 1870-1914», in S. Broadberry, and K. O’Rourke (eds), Unifying the European Experience: An Economic History of Modern Europe. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 59-83.Google Scholar
Bureau of Labour Statistics. (1934): History of Wages in the United States from Colonial Times to 1928. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office.Google Scholar
Caruana-Galizia, P. (2012): «Mediterranean Labour Market Integration: Maltese Real Wages in a Regional Context, 1836-1913». Journal of European Economic History, 41 (3), pp. 93-121.Google Scholar
Caruana-Galizia, P. (forthcoming a): «Decline and Stagnation in the Arab World: Preliminary Real Wage Evidence for Algeria, Egypt, Syria, and Tunisia, 1846-1913». Research in Economic History, 31.Google Scholar
Caruana-Galizia, P. (forthcoming b): «Strategic Colonies and Economic Development: Real Wages in Cyprus, Gibraltar, and Malta, 1836-1913». Economic History Review .Google Scholar
Cavaioli, F. (2008): «Patterns of Italian Immigration to the United States». Catholic Social Science Review, 13, pp. 213-229.Google Scholar
Census of England and Wales. (1904): 1901 Census of England and Wales, General Report with Appendices. London: HM Stationery Office.Google Scholar
Census of England and Wales. (1917): 1911 General Report with Appendices (1917-18 xxxv (Cd.8491) 483), VII.-Birthplaces: Persons born in British Colonies or Dependencies.Google Scholar
Clancy-Smith, J. (2010): Mediterraneans: North Africa and Europe in an Age of Migration, c. 1800-1900. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Clogg, C. C.; Petkova, E., and Haritou, A. (1995): «Statistical Methods for Comparing Regression Coefficients between Models». American Journal of Sociology, 100 (5), pp. 1261-1293.Google Scholar
Cortés Condre, R. (1979): El Progreso Argentino, 1880-1914. Buenos Aires: Sudamericana.Google Scholar
Dick, T. (1982): «Output, prices, and real wages: the Canadian experience, 1870-1915», mimeo.Google Scholar
Dore, G. (1968): «Some Social and Historical Aspects of Italian Emigration to America». Journal of Social History, 2, pp. 95-122.Google Scholar
Easterlin, R. A. (1961): «Influences in European Overseas Emigration before World War I». Economic Development and Cultural Change 9, pp. 331-351.Google Scholar
Engle, R. F., and Granger, C. W. J. (1987): «Co-integration and Error Correction: Representation, Estimation and Testing». Econometrica, 55, pp. 251-276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Felice, E., and Vecchi, G. (2012): «Italy’s Modern Economic Growth, 1861-2011». Universita degli Studi di Siena, Quaderni del Dipartimento di Economia Politica d Statistica, 661, pp. 1-45.Google Scholar
Ferenczi, I., and Willcox, W. F. (1929): International Migrations, Vol. I: Statistics. New York: National Bureau of Economic Research.Google Scholar
Ferguson, N. (2003): «British Imperialism Revisited: The Costs and Benefits of Anglobalization». Historically Speaking, 4 (4), pp. 21-27.Google Scholar
Foerster, F. (1919): The Italian Emigration of Our Times. Cambridge, MA: Harvard.Google Scholar
Foreman-Peck, J., and Lains, P. (2000): «European Economic Development: The Core and the Southern Periphery, 1870-1910», in S. Pamuk, and J. Williamson (eds), The Mediterranean Response to Globalization Before 1950. London: Routledge, pp. 76-106.Google Scholar
Global Financial Data. (2014): Exchange Rates to 1383. Available at https://www.globalfinancialdata.com/Databases/Data.html#Exchange_Rates_to_138.Google Scholar
Gomellini, M., and O’Grada, C. (2011): «Outward and Inward Migrations in Italy: A Historical Perspective». Banca d’Italia Economic History Working Papers, 8, pp. 1-62.Google Scholar
Gould, J. D. (1980): «European Inter-Continental Emigration 1815-1915: The Role of ‘Diffusion’ and ‘Feedback’». Journal of European Economic History, 9, pp. 267-315.Google Scholar
Harper, M., and Constantine, S. (2010): Migration and Empire. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatton, T. J., and Williamson, J. G. (1994a): «What drove the Mass Migrations from Europe in the Late Nineteenth Century?». Population and Development Review, 20 (3), 1–27.Google Scholar
Hatton, T. J., and Williamson, J. G. (1994b): «Late Comers to Mass Emigration: The Latin Experience», in T. Hatton, and J. Williamson (eds), Migration and the International Labor Market, 1850-1939. London: Routledge, pp. 55-71.Google Scholar
Hatton, T. J., and Williamson, J. G. (1998): The Age of Mass Migration: Causes and Economic Impact. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hatton, T., and Williamson, J. (2008): Global Migration and the World Economy: Two Centuries of Policy and Performance. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Hobsbawm, E. (1954): «The General Crisis of the European Economy in the 17th Century». Past & Present, 5, pp. 33-53.Google Scholar
Issawi, C. (1966/1982): An Economic History of the Middle East and North Africa. London: Taylor and Francis.Google Scholar
Issawi, C. (1988): The Fertile Crescent, 1800-1914: A Documentary Economic History. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Issawi, C. (1992): «The Historical Background of Lebanese Emigration, 1800-1914», in A. Hourani, and N. Shehadi (eds), The Lebanese in the World. London: IB Tauris, pp. 13-32.Google Scholar
Karpat, K. (1985): «The Ottoman Emigration to America, 1860-1914». International Journal of Middle East Studies, 17, pp. 175-209.Google Scholar
Lains, P. (2007): «Growth in a Protected Environment: Portugal, 1850-1950». Research in Economic History, 24, pp. 121-163.Google Scholar
Lindert, P., and Williamson, J. (2003): «Does Globalization Make the World More Unequal?», in M. Bordo; A. Taylor, and J. Williamson (eds), Globalization in Historical Perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 227-276.Google Scholar
Maddison, A. (2003): The World Economy: Historical Statistics. Paris: OECD.Google Scholar
Naff, A. (1985): Becoming American: The Early Arab Immigrant Experience. Carbondale, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.Google Scholar
O’Rourke, K. H. (1997): «The European Grain Invasion, 1870-1913». Journal of Economic History, 57 (4), pp. 775-801.Google Scholar
O’Rourke, K. H., and Williamson, J. G. (1997): «Around the European Periphery, 1870-1913: Globalization, Schooling and Growth». European Review of Economic History, 1 (2), pp. 153-190.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Rourke, K. H., and Williamson, J. G. (1999): Globalization and History: The Evolution of a Nineteenth-Century Atlantic Economy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Obstfeld, M., and Taylor, A. (2003): «Globalization and Capital Markets», in M. Bordo;A. Taylor, and J. Williamson (eds), Globalization in Historical Perspective. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, pp. 121-187.Google Scholar
Ozmucur, S., and Pamuk, S. (2002): «Real Wages and Standards of Living in the Ottoman Empire, 1469-1914». Journal of Economic History, 62, pp. 293-321.Google Scholar
Pamuk, S., and Williamson, J. G. (eds) (2000): The Mediterranean Response to Globalization Before 1950. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Pamuk, S., and Williamson, J. G. (2011): «Ottoman De-industrialization, 1800-1913: Assessing the Magnitude, Impact, and Response». Economic History Review, 64 (s1), pp. 159-184.Google Scholar
Pamuk, S. (2004): «Prices in the Ottoman Empire, 1469-1914». International Journal of Middle East Studies 36, pp. 451-468.Google Scholar
Price, C. (1954): Malta and the Maltese: A Study in Nineteenth Century Migration. Melbourne: Georgian House.Google Scholar
Reis, J. (2000): «How Poor was the European Periphery before 1850? The Mediterranean vs. Scandinavia», in S. Pamuk, and J. Williamson (eds), The Mediterranean Response to Globalization Before 1950. London: Routledge, pp. 17-44.Google Scholar
Sanchez-Alonso, B. (1995): Las causas de la emigración española. Madrid: Alianza.Google Scholar
Sanchez-Alonso, B. (2000a): «What Slowed Down the Mass Emigration from Spain before World War II? A Comparison with Italy», in S. Pamuk, and J. Williamson (eds), The Mediterranean Response to Globalization Before 1950. London: Routledge, pp. 217-398.Google Scholar
Sanchez-Alonso, B. (2000b): «Those Who Left and Those Who Stayed Behind: Explaining Emigration from the Regions of Spain, 1880-1914». Journal of Economic History, 60 (3), pp. 730-751.Google Scholar
Sánchez-Alonso, B. (2007): «The Other Europeans: Immigration into Latin America and the International Labour Market, 1870-1930». Revista de Historia Económica/ Journal of Iberian and Latin American Studies, 25 (3), pp. 395-426.Google Scholar
Sicsic, P. (1992): «City-Farm Wage Gaps in Late-Nineteenth Century France». Journal of Economic History 52 (3), 675-695.Google Scholar
Sicsic, P. (1994): «Foreign Immigration and the French Labor Force, 1886-1926», in T. Hatton, and J. Williamson (eds), Migration and the International Labor Market, 1850-1939. London: Routledge, pp. 119-138.Google Scholar
Taylor, A., and Williamson, J. G. (1997): «Convergence in the Age of Mass Migration». European Review of Economic History, 1, pp. 27-63.Google Scholar
Thistlethwaite, F. (1991): «Migration from Europe Overseas in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries», in R. J. Vecoli, and S. M. Sinke (eds), A Century of European Migrations, 1830-1930. Chicago: University of Illinois Press, pp. 32-60.Google Scholar
Tortella, G. (1994): «Patterns of Economic Retardation and Recovery in South-Western Europe in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries». Economic History Review 47, pp. 1-21.Google Scholar
Williamson, J. G. (1995): «The Evolution of Global Labor Markets since 1830: Background Evidence and Hypotheses». Explorations in Economic History 32, pp. 141-196.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williamson, J. G. (2000): «Real Wages and Factor Prices Around the Mediterranean, 1500-1940», in S. Pamuk, and J. Williamson (eds), The Mediterranean Response to Globalization Before 1950. London: Routledge, pp. 45-75.Google Scholar
Wyman, M. (1993): Round-Trip To America: The Immigrants Return to Europe, 1880-1930. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.Google Scholar
Wolff, E. (1991): «Capital Formation and Productivity Convergence Over the Long Term». American Economic Review, 81, pp. 565-579.Google Scholar