Inequality in Nineteenth-Century Manhattan: Evidence from the Housing Market

• DOI: 10.1017/ssh.2020.12
• Publication Date: 2020-05-18T10:24:46Z
• Authors: Rowena Gray
• Keywords: Economic rent; Consumption

ABSTRACT Historical inequality is difficult to measure, especially at the subcountry level and beyond top income shares. This article presents new evidence on of in Manhattan from 1880 1910 using housing rents. Rental prices characteristics, including geocodable locations, were collected newspapers provide extensive geographic coverage island, relevant for overwhelming majority its population where renting predominated. provides a measure consumption household level, which helps develop picture urban this period, when wealth measures are scarce. For large American cities, but particularly New York, made up share expenditure cannot be substituted, so reliable feasible way identify true trends across space time.