Journal of Economic Literature
ISSN 0022-0515 (Print) | ISSN 2328-8175 (Online)
The Economic Impact of the Black Death
Journal of Economic Literature
vol. 60,
no. 1, March 2022
(pp. 132–78)
Abstract
The Black Death was the largest demographic shock in European history. We review the evidence for the origins, spread, and mortality of the disease. We document that it was a plausibly exogenous shock to the European economy and trace out its aggregate and local impacts in both the short run and the long run. The initial effect of the plague was highly disruptive. Wages and per capita income rose. But, in the long run, this rise was only sustained in some parts of Europe. The other indirect long-run effects of the Black Death are associated with the growth of Europe relative to the rest of the world, especially Asia and the Middle East (the Great Divergence), a shift in the economic geography of Europe toward the northwest (the Little Divergence), the demise of serfdom in western Europe, a decline in the authority of religious institutions, and the emergence of stronger states. Finally, avenues for future research are laid out.Citation
Jedwab, Remi, Noel D. Johnson, and Mark Koyama. 2022. "The Economic Impact of the Black Death." Journal of Economic Literature, 60 (1): 132–78. DOI: 10.1257/jel.20201639Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- I12 Health Behavior
- I14 Health and Inequality
- I30 Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty: General
- J10 Demographic Economics: General
- N13 Economic History: Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics; Industrial Structure; Growth; Fluctuations: Europe: Pre-1913
- N30 Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy: General, International, or Comparative
- N43 Economic History: Government, War, Law, International Relations, and Regulation: Europe: Pre-1913