The Market for Seamen in the Age of Sail

• Other Authors: Fischer, Lewis R.
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: Liverpool University Press 1994
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.3828/liverpool/9780969588566.001.0001

This volume collects eight essays that all attempt to answer two key concerns: did markets for seafarers exist in the age of sail; and, if so, were these markets efficient? The question was initially approach by Charles Kindleberger, who claims a market is efficient if it permits free access for employer and employee, is supply and demand match balance so that wages increase, and that labour must command the same price across the market. The first four focus on the broadly defined early-modern period, and all agree on the existence of the markets but are divided over whether or not they are efficient. The second section asks the same questions of the nineteenth century, and receives similar answers. All of the essays take issue with the definition and application of the term ‘efficiency’ when approaching their conclusions. Each author is considered an expert within their field, and all base their research on the North Atlantic.