Study title

This study examines three dimensions of wage inequality in Germany during four centuries (1485 - 1889), namely sectoral wage variations, skill premium as an indicator of the influence of human capital on wage income, and gender difference. It opens with an overview of the nominal and real wages of urban workers from the 16th to the 19th century. It examines the wages of the following groups: (1) for urban construction, the wages of skilled craftsmen are compared with the wages of unskilled workers (skill premium); (2) wages in agriculture are compared with wages in the industrial sector; (3) the wage evolution of the female agricultural labour force is analysed in relation to the wages of male agricultural workers. For this purpose, two data sets on wages recently compiled by the author are used, which are supplemented with additional information, in particular on wages in agriculture (see Pfister 2019, 217-222). The data set provided here includes a series on skill premiums in urban construction, a series on the daily wages of male farmworkers at the Nordkirchen and Westphalia estates, and synthetic series on nominal wages in urban construction and on the consumer goods price index over the long period 1500-1913. 1. the skill premium (Table A-01) The skill premium is measured here as the wage differential by which the daily wages of skilled craftsmen exceed those of unskilled workers (e.g. 0.51 means that the daily wages of skilled craftsmen are 51% higher than those of unskilled workers). Data from 18 cities are available for the determination of the skill premium. The database of prices and wages until 1850 compiled by Pfister (2017; GESIS ZA8636) represents the main source for the daily wages of both skilled and unskilled construction workers. For the period from 1840 to 1880, the wage data compiled in Pfister (2018; GESIS ZA8710) on the urban building trade is used as a supplementary source. Appendix 1 documents at the level of individual cities the...