Fuel Consumption and Welfare Ratios in Preindustrial Societies: A Methodological Adjustment
本文指出罗伯特·艾伦的消费篮子低估了人均燃料使用量且未考虑气候影响，提出新方法后，早期现代欧亚城市的福利比率最多下降27%。
Abstract Household fuel consumption is essential in constructing consumption baskets for calculating welfare ratios. The most influential of these baskets, proposed by Robert Allen, has been widely used to analyze living standards across regions and periods. Despite their relevance, these studies may improve in two ways. First, their assumptions about per capita fuel use are lower than estimates from specialized literature. Second, they compare baskets without considering climate’s impact on fuel needs. This article develops a methodology that incorporates such differences. When applied to the respectable and bare-bones baskets of early modern European and Asian cities, welfare ratios fall—though unevenly—by as much as 27%.