Chris Minns

Rules and reality: quantifying the practice of apprenticeship in early modern England

This paper uses recently digitised samples of apprentices and masters in London and Bristol to quantify the practice of apprenticeship in the late seventeenth century. Apprenticeship appears much more fluid than is traditionally understood. Many apprentices did not complete their terms of indenture; late arrival and early departure from the master’s household were widespread. Other apprentices appear to have been absent temporarily, returning to the master shortly before the end of their indenture. Regression analysis indicates that the patterns of presence and absence broadly reflect the resources and external opportunities available to apprentices.

Leaving home and entering service: the age of apprenticeship in early modern London

Leaving home and entering service was a key transition in early modern England. This paper presents evidence on the age of apprenticeship in London. Using a new sample of 22,156 apprentices bound between 1575 and 1810, we find that apprentices became younger (from 17.4 to 14.7 years) and more homogenous, irrespective of background. We examine the effect of region of origin, parental occupation, company entered, and paternal mortality on age of entry. The fall in apprentices’ age has significant implications for our understanding of labour supply, training structures, the experience of apprenticeship, and the family economy in this period.

Dominion or Republic? Migrants to North America from the United Kingdom, 1870-1910

Late nineteenth–century Canada attracted a large number of immigrants from the UK, despite far lower average income per head there than in the US. While urban labour markets in the northern US were much larger than those in Canada, differences in outcomes between UK immigrants in Canadian and in northern US cities were small. Average annual real earnings by occupation group were only 10 to 15 per cent lower in Canadian cities. Individual–level census data indicate that the occupational distribution of UK immigrants in Canada was quite similar to that of their peers in the US.

Immigration policy and the skills of Irish immigrants: evidence and implications.

The rise of immigration into Ireland has been accompanied by a debate on the potential objectives of immigration policy. This paper beings with a survey of international and historical evidence on the economics of immigration policy. To place Irish immigration in the international context, a recent OECD data set is used to compare the education of Irish immigrants to their counterparts in other European economies. The data suggest that Irelands immigrant population is remarkably skilled. Immigrants of EU origin are positively selfselected. From outside the EU, some countries supply mainly skilled immigrants, while others are sources of less-skilled workers. These findings are used as a backdrop to explore three major issues in Irish immigration: the likely impact of EU accession of new member states, the appropriateness of current immigration policy, and the relationship between current immigration and future population flows.

Institutions, history and wage bargaining outcomes: international evidence from the post-World War Two era

This article uses international evidence to assess the impact of tripartism and other forms of government involvement in bargaining on wage moderation and wage dispersion. We find that government involvement in wage bargaining leads to a modest increase in wage moderation and reduction in wage dispersion. Historic differences in bargaining institutions between countries have greater moderating effects.

The spirit of capitalism? Immigration, religion, and self-employment in early 20th century Canada

This paper examines self-employment in Canada at the beginning of the twentieth century. As in the late 20th century, self-employment one hundred years ago was associated with greater human capital, and negatively related to wages in the local district. We also find strong evidence of immigrant assimilation in selfemployment, and modest evidence of higher self-employment in enclaves with greater concentration of immigrants. An analysis of recent immigrants supports the hypothesis that liquidity constraints are a strong determinant of self-employment. While religion and individual human capital are highly correlated, we find that the direct effects of membership in different Christian denominations were small.