Estimating long-term socioeconomic inequality in southern Europe: The Barcelona area, 1481-1880

摘要

This article estimates the patterns of socioeconomic inequality in the Barcelona area during the period 1481-1880 using the Marriage License Books from the Diocese of Barcelona, a unique fiscal source that ranged society from nobility, the highest level of payment, to the poor, exempted from taxation. These taxes together with the social status information of each individual allow setting fiscal progressivity and an approach to human capital. The results show how the levels of inequality were higher in preindustrial periods. However, industrialization with a deskilling occupational process and the emergence of a new working class reinforced the socioeconomic disparity due to the effects of proletarianization.