Deskilling and decline in skill premium during the age of sail : Swedish and Finnish seamen, 1751–1913
Ojala, J., Pehkonen, J., & Eloranta, J. (2016). Deskilling and decline in skill premium during the age of sail : Swedish and Finnish seamen, 1751–1913. Explorations in Economic History, 61(July), 85-94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eeh.2016.05.001
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Explorations in Economic HistoryDate
2016Discipline
TaloushistoriaBasic or discovery scholarshipTaloustiedeEconomic HistoryBasic or discovery scholarshipEconomicsCopyright
© 2016 Elsevier Inc. This is a final draft version of an article whose final and definitive form has been published by Elsevier. Published in this repository with the kind permission of the publisher.
The study examines the evolution of skill premium and share at industry level in shipping during the age of sail. We argue that the period from the 1750s to the 1910s represented deskilling for the seamen working in sailing ships. The growth of international trade and shipping during the first era of globalization increased the overall demand for sailors but decreased the relative demand for skilled labor in favor of less skilled ones. This deskilling was associated with a decline in wage inequality, as the premium for high skilled seamen fell relative to mean wages in the shipping industry. The decline in skill premium may have facilitated the growth of trade and shipping, as the relative costs of transport declined. This in turn might have hastened the first era of globalization.
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Academic PressISSN Search the Publication Forum
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