Abstract

Starting from the most recent economic and social historiographical research, this article aims to analyse some of the aspects that we consider fundamental and essential for any research work on wages and living standards in the pre-industrial age. Thanks to the extensive literature on these topics, as well as to research conducted by the authors over the last 20 years, employment contracts, pay methods, wage formation, and the consequences regarding living standards and their calculation will be examined. The article adopts approaches that entail an in-depth analysis of historical sources and data, and, at the same time, contextualise pay within its economic and social scenario. Without these elements, it is actually not possible to have plausible estimates on living standards, even from a comparative perspective.