The Price of Time and Labour Supply: From the Black Death to the Industrious Revolution

Mark Koyama

Wadham College, Oxford

Abstract

In pre-industrial economies labour supply curves often bend backwards at very

low levels of income. This changed prior to the industrial revolution: total working

hours increased (De Vries (1993, Voth (1998,2000). This paper examines

this industrious revolution using a model of labour supply where consumption

takes time. This analytical framework enables us to draw a distinction between

a pessimistic account of the industrious revolution as suggested by Van Zanden

(2006) and an optimistic account advanced by de Vries (2008) of an industrious

revolution driven by changing patterns of demand. This formulation clarifies

the importance of new consumption opportunities in driving hours worked.