Author: Éric Gómez-i-Aznar
Introduction
How was human capital measured in pre-industrial societies? What role did practical skills, such as arithmetic, play in the economy and society of the time? These questions are key to understanding the foundations of industrialisation in Catalonia, a pioneering region in the southern European context. My article, published in The European Historical Economics Society (EHES), employs the age-heaping methodology to analyse the numeracy (basic arithmetic skills) of the Catalan population around the 1720s. This study offers a fresh perspective on the role of human capital during the economic transformations that preceded the Industrial Revolution.
Numeracy as an Indicator of Human Capital
The study is based on over 6,700 individual records from municipal population registers across 13 Catalan localities, applying the ABCC index (proposed by A’Hearn et al., 2009). This methodology identifies errors in age reporting (age-heaping), a common practice in populations with low arithmetic skills.
The findings indicate that numeracy in Catalonia was relatively high for the period, with an average ABCC index of 70–80% in the 1720s, placing it at a comparable level to regions in central and northern Europe (Crayen & Baten, 2010). These results contrast with the region’s lower literacy rates, suggesting that practical skills were of fundamental importance.
Table: ABCC levels by activity sector in 1720.
| Basic skills | Occupational skills | ||||||||
| Activity sector | (%) | ABCC 1720 | Unskilled (%) | Low skilled (%) | Medium skilled (%) | High skilled (%) | N | ||
| Rural | |||||||||
| Primary | 70.3 | 72.17 | 58.0 | 12.3 | 29,7 | 0.0 | 1 | ||
| Secondary | 21.3 | 70.44 | 0.2 | 54.0 | 44.8 | 0.9 | 433 | ||
| Textile | 20.6 | 78.65 | 0,0 | 67,4 | 32,6 | 0,0 | 89 | ||
| Tertiary | 8.4 | 81.62 | 9.4 | 25.9 | 21.8 | 42.9 | 170 | ||
| All rural workers | 100 | 72.7 | 41.6 | 22.3 | 32.1 | 4.8 | 2 | ||
| ABCC | 67.8 | 75.2 | 75.7 | 82.8 | |||||
| Urban | |||||||||
| Primary | 24.8 | 74.03 | 73.2 | 0.4 | 26.4 | 0.0 | 488 | ||
| Secondary | 54.1 | 85.37 | 0.1 | 48.8 | 50.9 | 0.2 | 1 | ||
| Textile | 28 | 86.41 | 0.0 | 65.1 | 34.9 | 0.0 | 298 | ||
| Tertiary | 21.1 | 86.84 | 8.4 | 19.0 | 37.5 | 35.1 | 416 | ||
| All urban workers | 100 | 82.18 | 19.9 | 30.5 | 42.0 | 7.5 | 2 | ||
| ABCC | 70.2 | 85.2 | 86.5 | 87.0 | |||||
Sources: Olot 1716 municipal register ACG; Badalona 1717 municipal register AHMB; Pont de Suert 1717 municipal register AHLL; Tredòs 1717 municipal register AHLL; Girona 1720 municipal register AHMG; Tossa de Mar 1720 municipal register AHLL; Agramunt 1721 municipal register AHLL; Manresa 1721 municipal register AHM; Puigcerdà 1722 municipal register ACC; Llorenç del Penedès 1722 municipal register AHLL; Alella 1724 ACA; Caldes de Montbui 1724; Vilanova i la Geltrú 1724, ACG.
Notably, workers in the textile sector, both in urban and rural areas, stood out for their numerical capacity, with ABCC indices exceeding 78%. These findings support the hypotheses of Nadal (1995) and Rosés (1998), which highlight workplace learning as a key factor in acquiring the human capital necessary for industrialisation.
Human Capital and Inequality: The Role of Social Classes and Gender
The study also reveals that numeracy varied by social class and economic activity. Social groups with higher prestige, such as merchants and professionals, exhibited higher levels of numeracy (ABCC indices close to 90%), while unskilled workers scored below 70%. This disparity is partly explained by inequalities in access to resources, such as land (Baten & Juif, 2014; Pérez-Artés & Baten, 2021).
Surprisingly, the study also finds that in some municipalities (e.g., Olot and Badalona), women demonstrated numeracy levels similar to or even higher than men, particularly in the context of protoindustrial textile work. These findings align with previous research, which shows that women in dynamic economies often acquired mathematical skills to manage commercial and domestic tasks.
Contribution to the Debate on Industrialization
This study contributes a new dimension to the debate on the role of human capital in the early stages of industrialisation. Contrary to interpretations that emphasise a disconnection between industrialisation and formal education, the findings suggest that practical skills acquired informally, such as numeracy, played a decisive role.
The data also reinforce the idea that pre-industrial societies with high numeracy levels were better equipped to adapt to the demands of a transforming economy. In this sense, Catalonia was not only prepared for change but also laid the foundations for its industrial leadership in the 19th century.
References:
A’Hearn, B., Baten, J., & Crayen, D. (2009). Quantifying quantitative literacy: Age heaping and the history of human capital. Journal of Economic History, 69(3), 783–808.
Baten, J., & Juif, D. (2014). A story of large landowners and math skills: Inequality and human capital formation in long-run development, 1820–2000. Journal of comparative economics, 42(2), 375-401.
Crayen, D., & Baten, J. (2010). Global trends in numeracy 1820–1949 and its implications for long-term growth. Explorations in Economic History, 47(1), 82–99.
Nadal, J. (1995). El Factor humà en el retard econòmic espanyol: el debat entre els historiadors. Inauguració del curs acadèmic 1995-1996.
Pérez-Artés, M. C., & Baten, J. (2021). Land inequality and numeracy in Spain during the seventeenth and eighteenth century. Historia Agraria, 83, 7-39
Rosés, J. R. (1998). Measuring the contribution of human capital to the development of the Catalan factory system (1830-61). European Review of Economic History, 2(1), 25–48.