Wages in comparison. Scandinavia in the early modern period: Evidence from Scania

Sammanfattning: This study utilizes new archival data to develop a series of wages for unskilled workers, skilled worker, and women from early modern Scania in the south of modern-day Sweden. These series are used in combination with already-published data on builders’ wages in Stockholm and other European regions to further the understanding of Scandinavia’s position in early modern Europe during the Little Divergence. Evidence from real wages and the skill premium indicates that Scandinavia was part of a poor and declining periphery outside the growth centers of Europe despite its strategic location at the mouth of the Baltic, previous military success, and the early emergence of a knowledge economy. The early modern period was characterized by volatile, stagnating, and declining real wages, an instable and increasing skill premium, and segregated markets. Additionally, there is substantial evidence that women in Scania earned a fair market wage for equal work, despite being restricted in their labor market options.