Female salaries and careers in British banking, 1915–41

Women were first employed in large numbers by the British banking industry during the First World War, and were an essential part of the industry's labour force thereafter. During the interwar period, women were often confined to routine back office positions, and could not advance past the level of clerk. Evidence from Williams Deacon's Bank shows that the salaries of younger women were very similar to their male counterparts; however, an ever-widening gender pay gap emerged after about 5 years seniority. The main reasons for this pay gap were higher exit rates for women, largely due to marriage bars, and lower returns to seniority. Promotion restrictions, though ubiquitous, account for a relatively small proportion of the gender pay gap. Despite the pay gap, the marriage bar, and the lack of promotion opportunities, a sizable proportion of female clerks were very loyal to the Bank and remained for 10 or more years. This was due to the absence of better opportunities elsewhere in the labour market.     

The wages and employment of female day‐labourers in English agriculture, 1740–18501

Using a new sample of farm accounts from 84 farms throughout England, this article provides measures of regional variation and changes over time in female wages and employment in agriculture. Female wages were not fixed, but changed over time and responded to high demand for female labour. The female‐male wage ratio fell between 1750 and 1850, except in the industrial north west. In 1851 approximately 19 per cent of agricultural day‐labourers were female. In the industrial north west, opportunities for factory employment reduced the supply of females to agriculture, but elsewhere the relative demand for female labour in agriculture declined.     

The impact of limited liability on ownership and control: Irish banking, 1877–19141

Limited liability is regarded as the sine qua non of the modern company, enabling firms to raise capital from a broad spectrum of investors who have well‐diversified portfolios. This article uses the ownership records of an Irish bank, which converted to limited liability in 1883, to explore the impact of introducing limited liability upon ownership and control. We find that ownership becomes more dispersed amongst individuals from a broader social and geographical spectrum. However, there appears to be little impact on portfolio diversification. Furthermore, although limited liability appears to contribute to the rise of the professional director, the evidence suggests that managerial incentives may have been weakened.     

The decline and fall of the European film industry: sunk costs,market size,and market structure, 1890–19271

In the 1900s, the European film industry exported throughout the world, at times supplying half the US market. By 1920, however, European films had virtually disappeared from America, and had become marginal in Europe. Theory on sunk costs and market structure suggests that an escalation of sunk costs during a rapid US growth phase resulted in increased concentration; eight surviving companies dominated international film production and distribution forever after. European film companies, although overall profitable, could not take part, and after the war could not catch up. US, British, and French time series data for 1890–1930 support the theory.     

Commercials,careers, and culture: travelling salesmen in Britain, 1890s–1930s*

Within the lower middle‐class, British commercial travellers established a strong fraternal culture before 1914. This article examines their interwar experiences in terms of income, careers, and associational culture. It demonstrates how internal labour markets operated, identifies the ways in which commercial travellers interpreted their role, and explores their social and political attitudes.     

The impact of deregulation on employment discrimination in the trucking industry

Past studies of racial discrimination in the for-hire sector of the motor carrier industry find that deregulation is an effective tool for mitigating discrimination. These studies argue that regulation provides a refuge from competition that allows employers to discriminate and pass costs on to consumers. Thus, increased competition of deregulation allows less latitude to discriminate. This study reexamines the impact of deregulation on racial employment in the trucking industry. Specifically, micro-data are used to measure and decompose increased minority participation of for-hire drivers following deregulation. The findings of this paper concur that deregulation increased minority participation in the industry. However, the new findings suggest that only a fraction of this increase can be attributed to employers having less latitude to racially discriminate.     

The shift from sterling to the dollar, 1965–76: evidence from Australia and New Zealand

The management of foreign exchange reserves has recently attracted attention from both policy‐makers and historians. Historical research has focussed on the nineteenth century and the interwar period, with less attention to the strategies of smaller countries in the final transition from sterling to the dollar in the post‐1945 period. This article examines the evolution of reserve currency policy from the perspective of Australia and New Zealand in the 1960s and early 1970s. As in the 1930s, economic uncertainty and a shift in global economic power prompted changes in reserves strategy. Patterns of trade and debt and falling confidence in British economic policy prompted a move away from sterling, but the timing and extent of this transition were affected by the fragility of the sterling exchange rate, lack of alternative assets, and continued dependence on the London capital market. The choices for Australia and New Zealand were thus constrained, but they were able to leverage their position as holders of sterling to engage in agreements that provided an exchange rate guarantee for their sterling holdings and continued access to the London capital market. This mitigated the effect of the final global transition from sterling to the dollar while protecting their interests.     

The City of London and slavery: evidence from the first dock companies, 1795–18001

Through analysing the composition of the founding shareholders in the West India and London Docks, this article explores the connections between the City of London and the slave economy on the eve of the abolition of the slave trade. It establishes that over one‐third of docks investors were active in slave‐trading, slave‐ownership, or the shipping, trading, finance, and insurance of slave produce. It argues that the slave economy was neither dominant nor marginal, but instead was fully integrated into the City's commercial and financial structure, contributing materially alongside other key sectors to the foundations of the nineteenth‐century City.     

The sixteenth‐century price rise: new evidence from Scotland, 1500–85

This article contributes to the emerging belief among early modern economic historians that sixteenth‐century inflation was primarily caused by monetary factors. The Scottish case study reveals a strong relationship between coinage debasement and rising prices, a contention strengthened by the fact that the Scottish experience of inflation was high in European terms, and, in particular, stands at a considerable distance from the English pattern. This study includes the first scholarly examination of prices during the 1540s, and reveals that substantial inflation first emerged during this hitherto neglected decade. Prices plateaued during the 1550s, and rose consistently from 1560 to 1585. Meanwhile real wages declined during the 1540s and from 1560 onwards. This article is methodologically innovative in constructing two baskets of commodities, designed to represent the elite experience, alongside a more traditional basket based on a working household. These reveal the divergent experiences of the price rise within Scotland: rising prices hit the poor harder than the rich due to the high cost of domestic agricultural goods in the subsistence basket and the deflationary impact of wages and luxury goods upon the overall elite basket.