Job tenure and unskilled workers before the Industrial Revolution: St Paul’s Cathedral 1672-1748
Paker, M., Stephenson, J.
& Wallis, P.
(2023).
Job tenure and unskilled workers before the Industrial Revolution: St Paul’s Cathedral 1672-1748.
Journal of Economic History,
83(4), 1101 - 1137.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050723000347
& Wallis, P.
(2023).
Job tenure and unskilled workers before the Industrial Revolution: St Paul’s Cathedral 1672-1748.
Journal of Economic History,
83(4), 1101 - 1137.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022050723000347
How were unskilled workers selected and hired in preindustrial labor markets? We exploit records from the rebuilding of St Paul’s Cathedral, London (1672–1748), to analyze the hiring and employment histories of over 1,000 general building laborers, the benchmark category of “unskilled” workers in long-run wage series. Despite volatile demand, St Paul’s created a stable workforce by rewarding the tenure of long-standing workers. More senior workers received more days of work each month, preference when jobs were scarce, and the opportunity to earn additional income. We find the cathedral’s strategy consistent with reducing hiring frictions and turnover costs.
Explore Further
- J23 - Employment Determination; Job Creation; Demand for Labor; Self-Employment
- N33 - Economic History: Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Income and Wealth: Europe: Pre-1913
- J22 - Time Allocation and Labor Supply
- J21 - Labor Force and Employment, Size, and Structure
- N63 - Europe: Pre-1913
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Wallis, P., Paker, M. & Stephenson, J.
(2022).
Job tenure and unskilled workers before the Industrial Revolution: St Paul’s Cathedral 1672-1748.
[Dataset]. OpenICPSR.
https://doi.org/10.3886/e182784
