Household consumption patterns and the consumer price index, England, 1260-1869

Horrell, Sara (2023) Household consumption patterns and the consumer price index, England, 1260-1869. Economic History Review, 76 (4). 1023 - 1050. ISSN 0013-0117

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Abstract

Existing long-run consumer price indices for England rely on a fixed consumption basket. Here we construct a methodologically improved, chained-Laspeyres price index for ordinary households based on their changing expenditure patterns between 1260 and 1869. Rather than offering a revisionist perspective on long-run costs, it confirms the broad accuracy of existing indices for the pre-industrial period. The dominant dependence of the key items of expenditure on agricultural, particularly arable, prices explains this finding. The industrial period introduced a new dynamic. The shift in household expenditure towards imported groceries and manufactured goods allowed for more substitution in response to relative price and income changes. Adding the current series to those chained-Laspeyres indices available for later periods provides a CPI for ordinary households in England over nearly eight centuries; from 1260 to the present day.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14680289
Additional Information:	© 2023 The Author
Divisions:	Economic History
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions
JEL classification:	D - Microeconomics > D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics > D10 - General D - Microeconomics > D1 - Household Behavior and Family Economics > D12 - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
Date Deposited:	05 Dec 2022 15:18
Last Modified:	25 Apr 2024 20:48
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/117518

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