Study title

In his survey about wage development in Germany from 1871 to 1945 Gerhard Bry (1960) composes an overview about different estimations for index series for costs of living for the period from 1871 to 1913. The index series differ in their regional ties (German Empire, Silesia, Bavaria, Ruhr area, Berlin, Essen, Braunschweig, Lübeck, Mannheim, Stuttgart and Prussia) and also in the composition of the different components (food and rent, only food, costs of living). The indices are in general quite similar to each other, as Bry already noticed. To what extent differences in the details are due to local differences is difficult to assess. The only index, which differs significantly compared to other series from 1877 to 1892, is the board of trade for Krupp, Essen. “In order to test Kuczynski’s index, we compared it with the major available independent food cost measures – whether included in his index or not. This comparison is carried through in the table A-11. In spite of differences in detail there is a rather striking similarity in the behavior of all these series – particularly with respect to trends” (Bry, G., 1960, a. a. O., Appendix A-11). Data tables in HISTAT: A.01 Index – Series of costs of living, comparison of estimations (1871-1913)