Purchasing Power of Labour: Norwegian Real Wages, 1726–2006

Abstract

By utilizing data from one of the largest international historical archives on wages and prices, this article offers new nominal and real wage series for Norway, 1726–2006. These serve as measures for the purchasing power of labour as input to production. The new series cover all main industries and thereby enables solid conclusions. The new series challenge existing views on the development of the purchasing power of labour in Norway during the last three centuries.

Keywords:

• Standard of living
• wages
• prices
• real wages
• labor costs

Acknowledgements

During the work on this article I have received valuable comments and other input from Professor Jan Tore Klovland of the Norwegian School of Economics and Business Administration and Dr Øyvind Eitrheim, Director of the Research Department at Norges Bank (Central Bank of Norway).

Notes

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²Hodne, Fritz, Ola Honningdal Grytten and J⊘rund Alme, Norwegian real wages: Trends in prices and wages, 1850–1950, in Labour's Reward: Real Wages and Economic Change in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Europe, Ed. Peter Scholliers Vera Zamagni. London: Edward Elgar 1995, 61–75, 238–248.

³Minde and Ramstad, Real Wages, 97–113; Hodne et al., Norwegian real wages, 63–72.

⁴Minde and Ramstad, Real Wages, 90–95, 110, 117–119.

⁵Hodne et al., Norwegian real wages, 72–74.

⁶Hodne, Fritz, Norges ⊘konomiske historie 1815–1970. Oslo: Cappelen, 199–202.

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¹¹Wedervang Archive, W027, W028, W204, W205, W207; NOS, Statistical Survey 1948. Oslo: Statistics Norway, 366–367.

¹²NOS, Statistical Survey, 366–367.

¹³Data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

¹⁴Wedervang Archive, W089, W091; Gj⊘lberg, Reall⊘nnsutvikling og levekår, 139–144; L⊘nningdal, Tjenestejentel⊘nninger i jordbruket, 37–43.

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¹⁶Grytten, Consumer Price Index, 2004 78–93.

¹⁷Wedervang Archive, W118, W119A, W120A, W249.

¹⁸Wedervang Archive, W245, W249; Alme 1993, 64–65.

¹⁹NOS, Statistical Yearbook. Oslo: Statistics Norway 1920–1940.

²⁰Data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

²¹Fl⊘ystad, Ingeborg, Arbeidsmandens lod det n⊘dt⊘ftige br⊘d: arbeiderlevekår ved Baaseland/Nes Jernverk 1725–1807. Diss., Bergen, NHH 1979, 595–596.

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²⁴See, e.g., Wedervang Archive, W284.

²⁵NOS, Statistical Yearbook, 1918–1941.

²⁶NOS 178, Statistical Survey, 364–365; NOS, Statistical Yearbook, 1918–1941.

²⁷NOS 178, Statistical Survey, pp. 364–365; data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

²⁸Fl⊘ystad, Arbeidsmandens lod, 595–596.

²⁹Wedervang Archive, W046, W055, W417.

³⁰Wedervang Archive, W284.

³¹NOS, Statistical Yearbook, 1915–1941; NOS, Statistical Survey, 364–365.

³²Data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

³³Wedervang Archive, W030, W032, W034, W035, W036, W038, W039, W043, W044, W063, W172, W173, W174, W176, W182, W184, W185, W186, W187, W188, W189, W193, W320, W327, W329, W330, W407.

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³⁶Wedervang Archive, W118, W119A, W120A, W249.

³⁷Wedervang Archive, W058.

³⁸NOS, Statistical Survey, 367; data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

³⁹Wedervang Archive, W058, W118, W119A, W120A, W245, W249.

⁴⁰NOS, Statistical Yearbook, 1918–1941.

⁴¹NOS, Statistical Survey, 366–367; NOS, Statistical Yearbook, 1940–1948; data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

⁴²Wedervang Archive, W028, W204; Gj⊘lberg, Reall⊘nnsutvikling og levekår, 85–107; NOS, Statistical Survey, 366–367.

⁴³NOS, Statistical Survey, 364–365; NOS, Statistical Yearbook, 1918–1941; NOS, Historical Statistics 1978. Oslo: Statistics Norway 1978, 530–532, 576; Grytten, Consumer Price Index, 92–93.

⁴⁴Data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

⁴⁵Minde, Kjell Bj⊘rn, Om den privat⊘konomiske l⊘nnsomheten av å investere i utdanning i Norge 1885–1960. Diss., Bergen, NHH 1993, 25–123* (appendix).

⁴⁶Data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

⁴⁷Minde, Was there a Fall in Return?, 6–22.

⁴⁸Data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

⁴⁹Minde, Om den privat⊘konomiske l⊘nnsomheten, 25–123* (appendix).

⁵⁰Data provided by Tor Skoglund, Statistics Norway 2007.

⁵¹NOS, National accounts 1865–1960. Oslo: Statistics Norway 1965, 328–337.

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⁵³Grytten, Ola Honningdal, Differences in the Standard of Living in Inter-war Norway, Scandinaviann Economic History Review, vol. 48, 2000: 22–41.

⁵⁴Grytten, Consumer Price Index, 47–98.

⁵⁵Ramstad, Kvinnel⊘nn og penge⊘konomi, 158–238.

⁵⁶Grytten, Ola Honningdal, A Norwegian Consumer Price Index, 1819–1913, in a Scandinavian Perspective, European Review of Economic History, vol. 9, 2004: 61–80.

⁵⁷Minde and Ramstad, Real Wages, 90–91, 118–119.

⁵⁸NOS, National Accounts, 348–351; Grytten, Ola Honningdal, The gross domestic product for Norway, in Historical Monetary Statistics for Norway, 1819–2003, Ed. Ø. Eitrheim, J. T. Klovland and Jan F. Qvigstad. Oslo: Norges Bank 2004, 241–288.

⁵⁹Minde and Ramstad, Real Wages, 90–121; Fl⊘ystad, Arbeidsmandens lod, 595–596.

⁶⁰Hodne, Fritz and Ola Honningdal Grytten, Norsk ⊘konomi i det 19. århundre. Bergen: Fagbokforlaget 2000, 278–281.

⁶¹Hodne, Fritz, Ola Honningdal Grytten and J⊘rund Alme, Norwegian real wages: Trends in prices and wages, 1850_1950, in Labour's Reward: Real Wages and Economic Change in Nineteenth and Twentieth Century Europe, Ed. Peter Scholliers Vera Zamagni. London: Edward Elgar 1995, 61–75, 238–248.

⁶²Gj⊘lberg, Reall⊘nnsutvikling og levekår, 85–107; L⊘nningdal, Tjenestel⊘nninger i jordbruket, 106–110.