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Seoul Journal of Economics
[ Article ]
Seoul Journal of Economics - Vol. 20, No. 3, pp.297-332
ISSN: 1225-0279 (Print)
Print publication date 31 Aug 2007
Received 09 May 2007 Revised 03 Sep 2007

The Standard of Living in the Chosǒn Dynasty Korea in the 17th to the 19th Centuries

Ki-Joo Park ; Donghyu Yang
Assistant Professor (First Author), Department of Economics, Sungshin Women’s University, 249-1, Dongseon-dong 3-ga, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul 136- 742, Korea, Tel: ＋82-2-920-7742 kjpark@sungshin.ac.kr
Professor, School of Economics, Seoul National University, 599 Gwanakno, Gwanak-gu, Seoul 151-746, Korea, Tel: ＋82-2-880-6375 dyang@snu.ac.kr

JEL Classification: N15, N35, N55, O10, O53

Abstract

With the aid of official statistics published by the Kingdom’s administration, and newly available indices of output, acreage, wages, population, and the price level, constructed from various other sources, this study establishes almost for the first time the long-term trends in the standard of living in the late Chosǒn, from the 17th to the 19th centuries. We then put the Korean trends to a larger picture of East Asia, including China and Japan. We investigate the tilled acreage per capita and the land productivity which together determine the agricultural product per capita, hence the per capita rural income. Alongside, we examine the long-term trends in real wages of rural and urban laborers. The comparative look at the three East Asian countries showed that Korea had the lowest and deteriorating living standards in the 17-19th centuries. This may be explained by poor irrigation system, natural disasters caused by deforestation, and the shortage of fertilizers.

Keywords:

Standard of living, Chosǒn (Korea), China, Land productivity, Acreage per capita, Wage, Prices

Acknowledgments

The earlier version of this paper was presented at the conference ‘Contemplating Chosǒn Society-Historical Aspect of Its Economc System,’ Asia Pacific Research Center, Stanford University, October 14, 2005. Authors thank John Duncan, Cameron Campbell, conference participants, and a referee for comments and suggestions.

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