Relative British and American Income Levels during the First Industrial Revolution

Abstract

We provide new measures of relative UK and US GDP per capita and output per worker for the crucial years between 1830 and 1870. Our estimates are current price comparisons that compare expenditure on GDP for five benchmark years using new price data. They show that the US leads in income per capita and output per worker compared to Great Britain and the United Kingdom. We check our estimates against sectoral productivity data and real wages.

Citation

Ward, M. and Devereux, J. (2006), "Relative British and American Income Levels during the First Industrial Revolution", Field, A.J., Clark, G. and Sundstrom, W.A. (Ed.) Research in Economic History (Research in Economic History, Vol. 23), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 249-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0363-3268(05)23008-2