Events

[joint work with Meredith M. Paker]

Abstract: This paper evaluates how a major policy shift – the suspension of the  gold standard in September 1931 – affected employment outcomes in interwar  Britain. We use a new high-frequency industry-level dataset and a difference-in-differences model to isolate the export channel of devaluation. At the micro level,
we find that the break from gold reduced unemployment by 2.7 percentage points for export-intensive industries relative to more closed industries. At the aggregate level, the export channel of devaluation stimulated the labor market, the fiscal outlook, and economic growth, which was an important initial spark of recovery from the depths of the Great Depression.

The Economic and Social History series for Hilary Term 2024 is convened by Stephen Broadberry and Victoria Gierok. 

For more information on this or any of the seminars in the series, please contact stephen.broadberry@nuffield.ox.ac.uk.