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The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth: the English Corn Returns as a data source in economic history, 1770-1914

2013; Oxford University Press; Volume: 17; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1093/ereh/het010

1474-0044

Liam Brunt, Edmund Cannon,

Historical Economic and Social Studies

From 1770 to 1914, the British Government collected weekly price and quantity data for all types of grain traded in many market towns; these "Corn Returns" were published in the London Gazette. We computerized the data published between 1770 and 1864, totalling around 6 million data points. Here we describe the nature of these data; discuss why, when, and how they were collected; consider their accuracy and biases; describe how we computerized them; and offer caveats in using these—and similar—data. We highlight the problem of drawing valid inferences in the face of price impact from fluctuating grain quality and rising imports.