economic history historians

Crafts and Harley view

pattern of acceleration in growth was much more gradual

especially between 1780-1820 in terms of national output per capita

widely accepted view

Berg and Hudson’s argument

growth accounting measures arent sufficient for analysis of social and economic change

due to estimation errors from incomplete nature of data and assumptions in analysis

see Industrial Revolution as fundamental shifts in economic and social life- more than a sum of its measurable parts

Malthus view in An Essay on the Principles of Population (1798)

• showed importance of demography

• economic growth→ more food produced→ standards of living rise→ population growth → standards of living fall

• so Long Run population growth but no increase in standards of living or income per capita

Joel Mokyr view

• argued that real sources of change are found in the 17th century Scientific Revolution and the 18th century Age of Enlightenment

• produced ‘useful knowledge’ both elite scientific knowledge and practical advice for its application

• culture of applying science and experiments to the study of technology

• the ‘industrial enlightenment’

• culture of growth in Europe, spread of ideas

Wrigley’s view

• argued Britain was able to make transition to economic growth by coal

• organic economies were limited by biological and physical processes

  • could only capture a tiny inflow of energy from the sun

  • photosynthesis=limited energy budget

• Britain broke the energy barrier by releasing the part of the photosynthesis product that had been stored for millions of years

• coal replaced wood

• mineral based, energy-intensive economy

Allen’s view

Demand and Factor Prices

• useful innovations adopted in Britain because labour was expensive and coal was cheap, but elsewhere it was the other way around

• IR could’ve happened else if relative factor costs were similar

• challenged by some economic historians though

Term created by Pomeranz

the Great Divergence

What was Schumpeter’s idea of creative destruction?

• the process by which new innovations replace outdated technologies

• innovation leads to new jobs and can create whole new industries

• but can also destroy these

what did Marx and Engels document?

the conditions of the working class in factories and mines

Nunn’s view on slavery and growth

countries with high slave export severely damaged growth in second half of the 20th century

What are Gardner and Roy’s views on types of colonial policies?

identify 3 explanations in differences in colonial administration

1) European policies

2) indigenous policies

3) local conditions eg geography and environment

What is Acemoglu et al’s idea of extractive states?

• a small elite controls power and resources, using that power to extract wealth from the majority of the population without investing in broader development or inclusive institutions.

  eg no protection of property rights and no checks or balances

What did La Porta et al argue about European policy in colonial states?

they look at legal systems exported to colonies

show that common law colonies performed better than Roman law colonies

What does Bakker et al’s work show?

• correlation between ease of trade and location of archeological findings for settlements

• trade in the Iron Age shows this

What do Chilosi et al show about trade history in Europe?

show that with grain, shorter distances reduced the correlation coefficients, even in 1620-1714

places with higher yields selling in places with lower yields

prices converged

what does Studer show?

In India, 1750-1914

• low distance to high distance, price correlations increasing

• larger distance=less trade=less correlation

What was Clemens et al’s work on place premiums?

• tried to create lower bound estimates of the place premium

• average wage increase from moving to US from developing country is 5.64times

• average lower bound absolute wage gain is $13600 PPP

• shows the potential gains from migration

What does Peri’s work on migrants show?

shows they have 0 or positive effects on natives