Treffer: Real wages around the world: Insights from linear programming and accounting for climate differences.

Title:
Real wages around the world: Insights from linear programming and accounting for climate differences.
Authors:
Moatsos M; Department of Macro, International, and Labour Economics, Maastricht University, The Netherlands; Department of International Development, King's College London, United Kingdom. Electronic address: michail.moatsos@maastrichtuniversity.nl., de Zwart P; Department of Social Sciences, Wageningen University, The Netherlands. Electronic address: pim.dezwart@wur.nl.
Source:
Economics and human biology [Econ Hum Biol] 2025 Dec; Vol. 59, pp. 101544. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Nov 19.
Publication Type:
Journal Article
Language:
English
Journal Info:
Publisher: Elsevier Science Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 101166135 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1873-6130 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 1570677X NLM ISO Abbreviation: Econ Hum Biol Subsets: MEDLINE
Imprint Name(s):
Original Publication: Amsterdam ; New York : Elsevier Science, c2003-
MeSH Terms:
Salaries and Fringe Benefits*/statistics & numerical data , Salaries and Fringe Benefits*/trends , Programming, Linear* , Climate* , Commerce*/statistics & numerical data, Humans
Contributed Indexing:
Keywords: Heating needs; Linear programming; Little divergence; Price index; Real wages; Temperature differences; Welfare ratio
Entry Date(s):
Date Created: 20251126 Date Completed: 20251211 Latest Revision: 20251211
Update Code:
20251212
DOI:
10.1016/j.ehb.2025.101544
PMID:
41297368
Database:
MEDLINE

Weitere Informationen

We collected the vast majority of price and wage data stemming out of the vibrant historical real wage literature of the last two decades. We applied a consistent methodology across the 86 included markets from around the world, with observations spanning from ca. 1200 to 1965. For computing the cost of living, our methodology accounts for the differences in temperatures across those markets. This adjustment impies higher costs for colder countries, with important ramifications. This approach reveals different levels and trends in relation to the "Little", "Great" and "Colonial" Divergences. Unfortunately, the coverage is still considerably skewed towards European countries. Further work in the field of global real wages can fill this gap, and improve current estimates, for example by increasing the products covered and reducing the need for imputations that are used widely in the literature.
(Copyright © 2025 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)