George R. Boyer

People/Faculty
Martin P. Catherwood Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations
Economics
George Boyer

Contact

133 Statler Dr
292 Ives Hall Faculty Wing
Ithaca, NY 14853
United States

Tel
+1 (607) 255-2752
CV
George R. Boyer CV
Overview

George R. Boyer is the Martin P. Catherwood Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations and Professor in the Departments of Economics and Global Labor and Work in the ILR School at Cornell University. He came to Cornell in 1982, after receiving his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Wisconsin. From 2018 to 2022, he served as Interim and then Senior Associate Dean of the ILR School. For the past 22 years he has been ILR's Director of Teaching. He has served as an Associate Editor of the Industrial and Labor Relations Review and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Economic History and of Social Science History.

Professor Boyer's research examines various aspects of British labor markets from the late eighteenth century to 1950, focusing on trends in working class living standards, the economics of social welfare policies and private charity, and unemployment and underemployment. He is the author of The Winding Road to the Welfare State: Economic Insecurity and Social Welfare Policy in Britain (Princeton University Press, 2018), and An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750-1850 (Cambridge University Press, 1990), as well as numerous articles in the field of economic history.

Professor Boyer's teaching includes undergraduate courses on the Development of Economic Thought and Institutions, the Evolution of Social Policy in Britain and America, Twentieth Century Economic History, and Work, Labor, and Capital in the Global Economy.

Teaching Statement 

Professor Boyer teaches undergraduate courses in economic history and the development of economic thought, focusing on Great Britain, Western Europe, and the United States. The topics covered in these classes include the relationship between economic institutions, economic growth, and economic thought; the effects of economic growth on workers' living standards; the evolution of social welfare policies leading up to the adoption of the postwar welfare state; the extent of globalization before the First World War; the causes of the Great Depression; and the evolution of governmental macroeconomic policies to combat economic downturns.

Research Statement 

Professor Boyer’s current research examines British labor markets and social welfare policies from 1780 to 1950, focusing on the impact of industrialization on working-class living standards, workers’ methods for coping with income insecurity, the evolution of social welfare policy, and the extent of temporary, casual, and irregular work in Victorian and Edwardian England.

Service Statement 

He serves as the ILR School's Director of Teaching and chairs the School's Teaching Advisory Committee. The TAC works to promote a culture of teaching excellence at ILR.

Areas of Expertise

Economic growth and development
Global economy
Income distribution and security
International and comparative political economy
Labor Economics
Labor History
Labor in Europe and the U.S.
Older workers, aging, and pensions
Social insurance and welfare

Publications

Books

  • . . The Winding Road to the Welfare State: Economic Insecurity and Social Welfare Policy in Britain. Princeton University Press.
  • . . An Economic History of the English Poor Law, 1750-1850. Cambridge University Press.

Journal Articles

  • . . "Work for their Prime, the workhouse for their age": Old Age Pauperism in Victorian England. Social Science History, 40(Spring 2016), 3-32 (30 pages).
  • . . Global Warming of the Labor Legislation Climate: Comments on Fishback, Holmes, and Allen. Labor History, 50(3), 350-55.
  • , & . . The Trade Boards Act of 1909 and the Alleviation of Household Poverty. British Journal of Industrial Relations, 47(2), 240-264.
  • , & . . Poverty among the Elderly in Late Victorian England. Economic History Review, 62(2), 249-78.
  • , & . . Unemployment and the UK Labour Market before, during, and after the Golden Age. European Review of Economic History, 9(1), 35-60.
  • . . The Evolution of Unemployment Relief before the adoption of National Insurance: Great Britain, 1834-1911. Journal of Interdisciplinary History, 34(3), 393-433.
  • . . Comments on Geraghty, Márquez, and Vizcarra. Journal of Economic History, 63(2), 549-554.
  • . . Politics and Welfare: The Political Economy of the English Poor Laws. Library of Economics and Liberty.
  • , & . . New Estimates of British Unemployment, 1870-1913. Journal of Economic History, 62(3), 643-675.
  • . . Editor's Introduction. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 54(3), 681-682.
  • , & . . The Development of the Neoclassical Tradition in Labor Economics. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 54(2), 199-223.
  • . . The Historical Background of the Communist Manifesto. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12(4), 151-174.
  • . . The Influence of London on Labor Markets in Southern England, 1830-1914. Social Science History, 22(3), 257-285.
  • , & . . Migration and Labour Market Integration in Late Nineteenth-Century England and Wales. Economic History Review, 50(4), 697-734.
  • . . Labour Migration in Southern and Eastern England, 1861-1901. European Review of Economic History, 1(2), 191-215.
  • . . Poor Relief, Informal Assistance, and Short Time during the Lancashire Cotton Famine. Explorations in Economic History, 34(1), 56-76.
  • , & . . Did Joseph Arch Raise Agricultural Wages? A Reply. Economic History Review, 49(2), 370-376.
  • , , & . . The Union Wage Effect in Late Nineteenth Century Britain. Economica, 61(4), 435-456.
  • , & . . Did Joseph Arch Raise Agricultural Wages? Rural Trade Unions and the Labour Market in Late-Nineteenth Century England. Economic History Review, 47(2), 310-334.
  • , & . . A Quantitative Assessment of the Fertility Transition in England, 1851-1911. Research in Economic History, 12, 93-117.
  • . . Malthus Was Right After All: Poor Relief and Birth Rates in Southeastern England. Journal of Political Economy, 97(1), 93-114.
  • . . What Did Unions Do in Nineteenth Century Britain?. Journal of Economic History, 48(2), 319-332.
  • . . The Poor Law, Migration, and Economic Growth. Journal of Economic History, 46(2), 419-430.
  • . . The Old Poor Law and the Agricultural Labor Market in Southern England: An Empirical Analysis. Journal of Economic History, 46(1), 113-135.
  • . . An Economic Model of the English Poor Law circa 1780-1834. Explorations in Economic History, 22(2), 129-167.

Book Chapters

  • . . Insecurity, Safety Nets, and Self-Help in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. In Human Capital and Institutions: A Long Run View. (pp. 46-89). Cambridge University Press.
  • . . The Convergence of Living Standards in the Atlantic Economy, 1870-1930. In The New Comparative Economic History. (pp. 317-342). MIT Press.
  • . . Living Standards, 1860-1939. In The Cambridge Economic History of Modern Britain. (pp. 280-313). Cambridge University Press.
  • , & . . Labor Economics. In Industrial Relations at the Dawn of the New Millennium. New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
  • , & . . Labor Economics. In Industrial Relations at the Dawn of the New Millennium. (pp. 97-114). New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations.
  • , & . . Wage Trends in the Regions of the United Kingdom, 1860-1913. In Kingdoms United?. (pp. 135-152). Four Courts Press.
  • , & . . Regional Labour Market Integration in Britain, 1850-1913. In The Evolution of Labour Markets. (pp. 84-106). Routledge.
  • , , & . . The Impact of Emigration on Real Wages in Ireland, 1850-1914. In Migration and World Development, 1850-1939. (pp. 221-239). Routledge.

Book Reviews

  • . . Pauper Capital: London and the Poor Law, 1790-1870.
  • . . Wealth and Welfare States: Is America a Laggard or Leader?.
  • . . Historical Statistics of the United States: Millenial Edition. Volume 2: Work and Welfare.
  • . . Review of Growing Public: Social Spending and Economic Growth since the Eighteenth Century.
  • . . Review of Poverty in Britain, 1900-1965.
  • . . Review of Poverty and Welfare in England, 1700-1850: A Regional Perspective.
  • . . Review of The Logic of Charity: Amsterdam, 1800-1850.
  • . . Review of Labour History and the Labour Movement in Britain.
  • . . Review of The Solidarities of Strangers: The English Poor Laws and the People, 1700-1948.
  • . . England's Two Agricultural Revolutions: Review of Enclosure and the Yeoman.
  • . . Review of British Unemployment, 1919-1939: A Study in Public Policy.
  • . . Review of Child Labor and the Industrial Revolution.
  • . . Review of Interwar Unemployment in International Perspective.
  • . . Review of The Economics of the Industrial Revolution.
  • . . Review of The Idea of Poverty: England in the Early Industrial Age.
  • . . Review of British Labour History, 1815-1914.
  • . . Review of The Scottish Poor Law, 1745-1845.

Policy Report

  • . . Robots and Looms: If today's robots are just the automated looms of the 21st century, then expect a couple decades of wage stagnation, declining living standards, and civil unrest.

Conference Proceedings

  • , , & . . Emigration and Living Standards in Ireland: 1850-1914.

Professional activities

  • Comments on the Second Machine Age. Presented to ILR School. 2016.
  • Comments on Frances Perkins and the Social Security Act. Presented to Cornell United Religious Work. Anabel Taylor Hall. 2015.
  • Moderator for Economics Panel on "Insights from Behavioral and Development Economics". Presented to Cornell Universtiy. Ithaca, NY. 2013.
  • "Work for their prime, the workhouse for their age": A Regional Analysis of Eldery Pauperism in Victorian England. Presented to Canadian Network for Economic History. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. 2011.

Honors and Awards

  • Martin P catherwood Professor of Industrial and Labor Relations, ILR School, Cornell University.
  • Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, Cornell University.
  • Cliometric Society "Can" Award "for exceptional support to the field of Cliometrics.", Cliometrics Society.
  • Nominated for a MacIntyre Award for Exemplary Teaching, Teaching Advisory Committee, ILR School.
  • Nominated for a MacIntyre Award for Exemplary Teaching, Teaching Advistory Committee, ILR.
  • I was chosen by Merrill Presidential Scholar Dmitri Koustas as the Cornell faculty member who made the most significant contribution to his education., Cornell University.
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