Measuring inequality trends in colonial australia using factor-price ratios: The importance of boundaries

Abstract

Previous research on nineteenth century globalisation argues that during the second half of that century wage-rental ratios in labour scarce, land-abundant new world economies decreased. This suggests inequality rose in the new world. Australia has been cited as a conspicuous example of this trend. The paper re-examines this argument using disaggregated land and wage data for four Australian colonies. We reveal large regional differences in both factor-price levels and trends - something that has been overlooked when discussing Australian colonial inequality and we suggest that regional disparities in other nineteenth century economies are also likely to be important. © Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd and the Economic History Society of Australia and New Zealand 2007.