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Economic Growth in History:
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back to Synopsis

I. Themes

1. Growth Trajectories since 1500
2. Ideologies Liberalism and Marxism
3. Institutions: Culture, Social Capital, and Trust

II. The First Industrial Revolution

4. Agriculture and sectoral shifts
5. Industrial Revolution I: Infra-sturcture and growth
6. Industrial Revolution II: Breakthrough technologies and sources of growth
7. Invention in theory and practice
8. Malthusianism, Inequality and the Kuznets curve

III. Creating the World Economy

9.  Globalization I: mercantilism, empire, & slavery
10. Globalization II: market integration and income distribution
11. Geography and Underdevelopment
12. When did Europe pull ahead of China?

IV.  Catching-Up in Theory and Practice

13. The Central Planning Alternative
14. Tariffs, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Rights
15. The State and Economic Development in Asia
16.  Recent Growth in East Asia


I. Themes

1. Growth Trajectories Since 1500

What has been the history of growth, income distribution, and well-being since 1500?  When have incomes converged and when have they diverged?   Discuss the growth breakthrough in early modern Europe.

  • *Pritchett, L."Divergence, Big Time," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol.11, 1997, pp.3‑17.
  • *Richard Easterlin, "Does Economic Growth Improve the Human Lot?" in P. David, ed., Nations and Households in Economic Growth.
  • *R.C. Allen, "Economic Structure and Agricultural Productivity in Europe, 1300‑1800," European Review of Economic History, Vol. 3, 2000, pp. 1-25.
  • *R.C. Allen, "The Great Divergence in European Wages and Prices from the Middle Ages to the First World War," Explorations in Economic History, Vol. 38, October, 2001, pp 411-447.
  • A. Maddison, The World Economy: A Millennial Perspective, OECD, 2001, pp. 27-48.
  • NFR Crafts, "Globalization and Growth in the Twentieth Century," IMF Working Paper No. 00/44, 2000.

2. Ideologies:  Liberalism and Marxism

What do liberals and Marxists see as institutions that promote economic growth?  What evidence supports or contradicts these positions?  What roles did the state perform in theory and in practice?

  • *D.C.North and B.Weingast, "Constitutions and Commitment:Evolution of Institutions governing Public Choice in Seventeenth-Century England," Journal of Economic History, 1989, Vol. 49, pp.803-32.
  • *S.R.Epstein, Freedom and Growth: The Rise of States and Markets in Europe, 1300-1750, pp.12-37.
  • *K. Marx, Capital, Vol. I, Part VIII.
  • Mancur Olson, The Rise and Decline of Nations: Economic Growth, Stagflation, and Social Rigidities, New Haven, Yale University Press, 1982.
  • Phillip Hoffman and Kathryn Norberg, Fiscal Crises, Liberty, and Representative Government, 1450-1789, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1994.
  • D.C. North and R.P. Thomas, The Rise of the Western World, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1973.
  • D.C. North, Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1990.
  • A. Smith, Wealth of Nations
  • L.Neal, "The Monetary, Financial, and Political Architecture of Europe, 1648-1815," 2001.
  • Jean-Laurent Rosenthal, 'The Political Economy of Absolutism Reconsidered,' in Robert H. Bates, et al., eds., Analytical Narratives, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1998, pp. 64-108.
  • T.H. Aston and CHE Philpin, eds. The Brenner Debate: Agrarian Class Structure and Economic Development in Pre-Industrial Europe, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1985.

3.  Institutions:  Culture, Social Capital, and Trust

What is the institutional background to growth? Is economic success determined by culture?  What is 'social capital' and does it facilitate exchange?   What is the relationship between social capital and trust.  Can these variables measured?  Do they cause growth or are they caused by growth?

Topics covered:
1. Sources of law and legitimacy: the Weberian approach.
2. Institutions and how to acquire them.
3. Social capital and trust.
4. Culture and social norms.

  • *Collier, P. and Gunning, J. (1999), "Explaining African economic performance", Journal of Economic Literature, 37, pp.64-111.
  • *Milgrom, P., North, D. and Weingast, B. (1990), "The role of institutions in the revival of trade: the Law  Merchant, private judges and the Champagne fairs", Economics and Politics, 2(1), pp.1-23.
  • *Knack, S. and Kiefer, P. (1997), "Does social capital have a pay-off", Quarterly Journal of Economics, pp. 1251-1288.
  • *Ostrom, E. (2000), "Collective action and the evolution of social norms", Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3), pp.137-158.
  • *Puttnam, R. (1993), Making Democracy Work: Civic traditions in modern Italy, selections.
  • Coleman, J. (1988), "Social capital in the creation of human capital", American Journal of Sociology, 94(suppl.), pp.95-120.
  • Granovetter, M. (1985), "Economic action and social structure: the problem of embeddedness", American Journal of Sociology, 91(3), pp. 481-510.
  • Greif, A., Milgrom, P. and Weingast, B. (1994), "Co-ordination, commitment and enforcement: the case of the Merchant Guild", Journal of Political Economy, 102(4), pp.745-776.
  • Greif, A. (1997), "Cultural beliefs as a common resource in an integrating world", in Dasgupta,
  • Przeworski, A. and Limongi, F. "Political regimes and economic growth", Journal of Economic Perspectives, 7(3), pp.51-69.
  • P., Mהler, K.G. and Vercelli, A., The Economics of Transnational Commons.
  • North, D. (1991), "Institutions", Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(1), pp.97-112.
  • Weber, M. (1968), "The types of legitimate domination", in Weber, M., Economy and Society volume 1.        
  • Weber, M. (1951), The Religion of China: Confucianism and Taoism.
  • Weber, M. (1976), The Agrarian Sociology of Ancient Civilisations.
  • World Bank Development Report 2002: Building Institutions for Markets.
  • World Bank (1994), The East Asian Miracle: economic growth and public policy, World Bank policy research report.

II. The First Industrial Revolution

4. Agriculture and Sectoral Shifts

How did agriculture change in England and France between the middle ages and the nineteenth century?   What was the relationship between productivity growth and agrarian institutions?   Did the elimination of peasant farming in England accelerate industrialization? Is English agricultural history consistent with Marx's views on the subject, and what is the bearing of this question to his theory of economic development?  What can be inferred from changes in rent?

  • *PK O'Brien,  "Path Dependency, or Why Britain Became an Industrialized and Urbanized Economy Long Before France," Economic History Review, 2nd series, 1996, Vol.49, pp.213-49.
  • *RC Allen, Enclosure and the Yeoman: The Agricultural Development of the South Midlands, 1450-1850, Oxford, 1992, chapter 1.
  • *NFR Crafts and CK Harley, "Agriculture and the Industrial Revolution.  Peasant vs. Capitalist Farming: Implications for Alternatives Paths to the Modern World," 2000.
  • *PT Hoffman, "Land Rents and Agricultural Productivity: The Paris Basin, 1450-1789," Journal of Economic History, Vol. 51, 1991, pp. 771-805.
  • RC Allen, "Agriculture during the Industrial Revolution," in R. Floud and P. Johnson, eds., The New Economic History of Britain, forthcoming.
  • P.K.O'Brien and C. Keyder, Economic Growth in Britain and France, 1780-1914: Two Paths to the Twentieth Century, 1978, pp. 1-56.
  • RC Allen and C O'Grada, "On the Road Again with Arthur Young: English, Irish, and French Agriculture during the Industrial Revolution," Journal of Economic History, 48, 1988, pp. 93-116.
  • GW Grantham, "The Diffusion of the New Husbandry in Northern France, 1815-1840," Journal of Economic History, 38, 1978, pp. 331-37.
  • GW Grantham, "The Persistence of Open-Field Farming in Nineteenth Century France," Journal of Economic History, 40, 1980, pp. 515-31.
  • WH Newell, "The Agricultural Revolution in Nineteenth-century France," Journal of Economic History, 33, 1973, pp. 697-731.
  • M. Overton, Agricultural Revolution in England, 1996.
  • RC Allen, "Economic Structure and Agricultural Productivity in Europe, 1300-1800," European Review of Economic History, 3, 2000, pp. 1-25.
  • R.C. Allen, "The Growth of Labor Productivity in Early Modern English Agriculture," Explorations in Economic History, 1988,25, pp.117-146.
  • RC Allen, 'Tracking the Agricultural Revolution,' Economic History Review, 2nd series, 52, 1999, pp. 209-35.
  • G. Clark, 'Commons Sense: common property rights, efficiency, and institutional change,' Journal of Economic History, 58, 1998, pp. 73-102.
  • PT Hoffman, Growth in a Traditional Society: The French Countryside, 1450-1815.

5. Industrial Revolution I: Infra-structure and growth

What contribution did infra-structure investment make to economic growth?  What political institutions favoured investment in infra-structure?  What is social savings?  How is it related to cost-benefit analysis?  How can cost-benefit analysis be used to explain history?

  • *R. Fogel, Railroads and American Economic Growth, chapter 7.
  • *J.-L. Rosenthal, 'The Development of Irrigation in Provence,' Journal of Economic History, 1990, pp. 615-38.
  • *DN McCloskey, 'The Enclosure of Open Fields: Preface to a Study of its Impact on the Efficiency of English Agriculture in the Eighteenth Century,' Journal of Economic History, 1972, Vol. 32, pp. 15-35.

6. Industrial Revolution II: Breakthrough Technologies and Sources of Growth

How broadly based was the first industrial revolution?  How is productivity growth measured and aggregated?   How can the contribution to growth of a general purpose technology be measured?  What are the relationships between growth accounting, social savings, and cost-benefit analysis?  Compare the economic impact of the great inventions of the past to those of today.

  • *NFR Crafts, British Economic Growth during the Industrial Revolution, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1985, pp. 70-88.
  • *P. Temin, "Two Views of the British Industrial Revolution," Journal of Economic History, 1997, pp. 63-82.
  • *C.K. Hyde, 'The Adoption of Coke-Smelting by the British Iron Industry, 1709-1790,' Explorations in Economic History, Vol. 10, 1973, pp. 397-417.
  • *NFR Crafts, "Productivity Growth in the Industrial Revolution: A New Growth Accounting Perspective," 2002.
  • C.K. Hyde, Technological Change in the British Iron Industry, 1700-1870 Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1977.
  • R. Gordon, "Does the 'New Economy' Measure Up to the Great Inventions of the Past?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol 14, 2000, pp. 49-74.
  • S.D. Oliner and D.E. Sichel, "The Resurgence of Growth in the Late 1990s: Is Information Technology the Story?" Journal of Economic Perpsectives, Vol. 14, 2000, pp.3-22.
  • P. David, "The Dynamo and the Computer:  An Historical Perspective on the Productivity Paradox," American Economic Review, vol. 80 (2), May 1990, pp. 355-361.

7.  Invention in Theory and Practice

Evaluate the roles of macro inventions and micro improvements (learning-by-doing) in technological progress.  Compare and contrast the modelling of invention in endogenous growth models with the insights of historians of technology. What has been the role of science in economic growth? What is the evidence of inventive activity in non-Western societies?

Topics covered:
1. Invention as purposeful investment in productive knowledge: the historical evidence.
2. Learning-by-doing, clustering and knowledge spillovers: who reaps the benefits?
3. Bringing exogeneity back in: the role of science.
4. General purpose technologies and long waves.
5. What is to be explained? pre-industrial cycles of progress and retreat.

  • *Huff, T.E. (1993), The rise of early modern science: Islam, China and the West, selections.
  • *P.Dasgupta and P.David, "Towards a new economics of science", Research Policy,  23, (1994) pp.487-521.
  • *Mokyr, J. (1990), The Lever of Riches: technological creativity and economic progress, selections.
  • *Helpman, E. ed. (1998), General Purpose Technologies and Economic Growth, selections.
  • Aghion, P. and Howitt, P. (1998), Endogeneous Growth Theory.
  • Beer, J.J. (1959), The emergence of the German dye industry, Illinois Studies in the Social Sciences vol.44.
  • Goodfriend, M. and McDermott, J. (1995), "Early development", American Economic Review, 85(1), pp.116-133.
  • Hodgson, M. (1993), "The role of Islam in world history" in Hodgson, M., Re-thinking World History.
  • Jaffe, A.B., Trajtenburg, M. and Henderson, R. (1993), "Geographical localization of knowledge as evidenced by patent citations", Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108 (3), pp.577-598.
  • Jones, E.L. (1988), Growth Recurring: economic change in world history.
  • Landes, D. (1969), The Unbound Prometheus: technological change and industrial development in Western Europe from 1750 to the present.
  • Lucas, R.E. (2002), Lectures on Economic Growth
  • Mann, J. and Wadsworth, A. (1931), The Cotton Trade and Industrial Lancashire.
  • Porter, M. (1990), The Competitive Advantage of Nations.
  • Quah. D. and Keeley, L. (1998), Technology in Growth, CEPR discussion paper no. 1901.
  • Romer, P. (1990), "Endogeneous Technical Change", Journal of Political Economy, 98(5), pp.71-102.
  • von Tunzelmann, G. (1978), Steam Power and British Industrialisation to 1860.

8.  Malthusianism, Inequality, and the Kuznets Curve

How do societies escape from Malthusianism? What is the effect of the demographic transition. How did inequality change during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries?  Is the Kuznets curve an accurate generalization of inequality trends during capitalist economic development?  What are the causes of rising inequality in China today?

Topics covered:
1. Causes and consequences of fertility decline in industrialised societies.
2. Interaction between economic growth and population growth.
3. The Kuznets curve: theory and evidence.
4. The adverse effects of  inequality: is there a high inequality-low growth trap?
5. Government policy and rising inequality.

  • *Deininger, K. and Squire, L. (1998), "New ways of looking at old issues: inequality and growth" Journal of Development Economics, 57, pp.259-287.
  • *Galor, O. and Weil, D. (2000). "Population, technology and growth: from Malthusian stagnation to the demographic transition and beyond", American Economic Review,  90(4), pp. 806-828.
  • *Kuznets, S. (1955) "Economic Growth and Income Inequality," American Economic Review,  45,  pp. 1-28.
  • *Lindert, P. H. (2000), "Three centuries of inequality in Britain and America" in Atkinson, A.B. and Bourgignon, F.,  Handbook of Income Distribution.
  • Atinc, T.M. (1997), Sharing rising incomes in China, World Bank, China 2020 series.
  • Becker, G., Murphy, K. and Tamura, R. (1990), "Human capital, fertility and economic growth", Journal of Political Economy, 98 (5), pp. S12-S37.
  • Benabou, R. (1996), "Inequality and Growth", NBER Macroeconomics Annual, xi, pp.11-74.
  • Birdsell, N.(1988), "Economic Approaches to Population Growth" in Chenery, H. and Srinivasan, T. eds., Handbook of Development Economics, volume 1.
  • Boserup, E. (1981), Population and Technology.
  • Chesnais, J.C. (1992), The Demographic Transition.
  • Feinstein, C.H. (1998) "Pessimism Perpetuated: real wages and the standard of living in Britain during and after the Industrial Revolution", Journal of Economic History, (58), 3, pp. 625-658.
  • Fei, J.E., Ranis, G. and Kuo, S.Y. (1979), Growth with Equity: the Taiwan Case.
  • Lindert, P.H. (1994) "Unequal living standards" in Floud, R. and McCloskey, D., eds. The Economic History of Britain; Volume one: 1700-1860.
  • Lindert, P. and Williamson, J.G. (1980) American Inequality.
  • Lucas R.E. (2002), "The Industrial Revolution: past and future" in Lucas, R.E., Lectures on Economic Growth
  • Morrisson, C. (2000) "Historical Perspectives on Income Distribution: The Case of Europe" in Atkinson, A.B. and Bourgignon, F.,  Handbook of Income Distribution.
  • Riskin, C. ,Renui, Z. and Shi, L.eds. (2001), China's Retreat from Equality.
  • Vinod, A. (1997), Everyone's Miracle: revisiting poverty and inequality in East Asia, World Bank, directions in development series.

III. Creating the World Economy

9. Globalization I: mercantilism, empire, and slavery

What was the role of trade, empire, and commercial policy in promoting growth?   Why was slavery important in the eighteenth century?  How much did the industrial revolution depend on slavery?  Did the growth of the 'core' depend on the impoverishment of the 'periphery'? Did the Royal Navy cause the Industrial Revolution?

Topics covered:
1. Dependency theory: new and old.
2. Asia and the Indian ocean before and after the arrival of the Europeans.
3. Creating a world system: the role of the slave trade.
4. The role of finance and of institutions.
5. Europe's ecological advantages.

  • *Engerman, S. and O'Brien, P.K. (1991), "Export and the growth of the British economy from the Glorious Revolution to the Peace of Amiens",  in Solow, B. ed. Slavery and the Rise of the Atlantic System.
  • *Greif, A. (1994), "Trading institutions and the commercial revolution in Medieval Europe" in Aganbegyan, A., Bogomolov, O. and Kaser, M. eds., Economics in a Changing World vol.1. System Transformation: Eastern and Western Assessments.
  • *North, D.C. (1991), "Institutions, transaction costs and the rise of merchant empires", in Tracy, J. D. ed., The Political Economy of Merchant Empires.
  • *Wallerstein, I. (1972), "Three paths of national development in the sixteenth century", Studies in Comparative International Development, 7.
  • *Solow, B. (1991), "Introduction" and "Slavery and Colonization," in Solow, B. ed. Slavery and the Rise of the Atlantic System.
  • Abu-Lughard, J. (1989), Before European Hegemony: the world system AD 1250-1350.
  • Braudel, F., Civilisations and Capitalism:
  • Vol. 1 (1981), The Structures of Everyday Life.
  • Vol. 2 (1982), The Wheels of Commerce.
  • Vol. 3 (1984), The Perspective of the World.
  • Chaudhuri, K.N. (1990), Asia before Europe: economy and civilisation of the Indian Ocean from the rise of Islam to 1780.
  • Crosby, A.W. (1986), Ecological Imperialism: the biological expansion of Europe, 900-1900.
  • O'Brien, P.K. (1982), "European economic development: the contribution of the periphery", Economic History Review, 35, pp.1-18.
  • Pearson, M.N. (1991), "Merchants and states" in Tracy, J. D. ed., The Political Economy of Merchant Empires.
  • Wallerstein, I. (1980), The Modern World System II: mercantilism and the consolidation of the European world economy, 1600-1750.
  • Williams, E. (1944), Capitalism and Slavery.

10.  Globalization II: market integration and income distribution

When did world markets become integrated?  How can integration be measured?  What was the technological basis of globalization?  How has the emergence of a world economy affect income distribution in rich and poor countries?

  • *R.E. Findlay and K.H. O'Rourke, "Commodity Market Integration, 1500-2000," Centre for Economic Policy Research, Discussion Paper 3125, 2002.
  • *K. O'Rourke, and JG Williamson, "When did Globalisation Begin?" European Review of Economic History, Vol. 6, 2002, pp. 23-50.
  • *K.H.  O'Rourke, "The European Grain Invasion, 1870-1913," Journal of Economic History, Vol. 57, 1997, pp. 775-801.
  • *K.G. Persson, Grain Markets in Europe, 1500-1900, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1999, selections.
  • *P. Aghion, E. Caroli, C. Garcia-Penalosa, "Inequality and Economic Growth: the Perspective of the New Growth Theories," Journal of Economic Literature, Vol. 37, 1999, pp. 1615-60.
  • AJH Latham and L. Neal, "The International Market in Rice and Wheat, 1868-1914," Economic History Review, 2nd series, Vol. 36, 1983, pp. 260-75.
  • D. North, "Ocean Freight Rates and Economic Development, 1750-1913," Journal of Economic History 1958, pp. 538-55.
  • CK Harley, "Ocean Freight Rates and productivity, 1740-1913: The Primacy of Mechanical Invention Reaffirmed," Journal of Economic History, Vol. 48, 1988, pp. 851-76.
  • Kenneth Rogoff, Kenneth A. Froote, Michael Kim "The Law of One Price Over 700 Years," International Monetary Fund Working Paper WP/01/174, 2001.
  • D.A.Irwin, "Welfare Effects of British Free Trade: Debate and Evidence from the 1840s," Journal of Political Economy, 1988, Vol.96, pp.1142‑65.
  • K. O'Rourke and JG Williamson, Globalization in History, Cam­bridge, MA, MIT Press, 1999.
  • JG Williamson, "The Impact of the Corn Laws Just Prior to Repeal," Explorations in Economic History, Vol.27, 1990, pp.123‑56.
  • A. Wood, "Globalization and the Rise in Labour Market Inequalities," Economic Journal, 108, 1998, pp. 1463-82.
  • E. Anderson, "Globalisation and Wage Inequalities, 1870-1970," European Review of Economic History, Vol. 5, 2001, pp. 91-118.
  • C. Goldin and L. Katz, "The Origins of Technology-Skill Complementarity," Quarterly
  • Journal of Economics,1998, pp. 693-732.
  • R. Kanbur, "Income Distribution and Development," in Handbook of Income Distribution, Vol. I, ed. by A. Atkinson and F. Bourguignon, Elsevier Science, 2000, pp. 791-841.
  • F. Bourguignon and C. Morrisson, "Inequality among World Citizens, 1820-1992," 2002.
  • K. O'Rourke, A.M. Taylor, and J.G. Williamson, "Factor Price Convergence in the Late Nineteenth Century," International Economic Review, Vol. 37, 1996, pp. 499-530.
  • K. O'Rourke, and J.G. Williamson, "Around the European Periphery: Globalisation, Schooling, and Growth," European Review of Economic History, Vol. 1, 1997, pp. 153-91.
  • J.D. Richardson, "Income Inequality and Trade: How to Think, What to Conclude," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 9, #3, 1995, pp. 33-55.
  • J. Williamson, "Land, Labor and Globalization in the Third World, 1870-1940," Journal of Economic History, 2002, xx.
  • D.J. Robbins, "Evidence on Trade and Wages in the Developing World," OECD Technical Paper No. 119, 1996 (www1.oecd.org/dev/PUBLICATION/Tp119.pdf).
  • World Bank, World Development Report 1995: Workers in an Integrating World, New York, Oxford University Press, 1995.
  • George J.Borjax, Richard B.Freeman, and Lawrence F.Katz, "How Much Do Immigration and Trade Affect Labor Market Outcomes?"Bro­okings Papers on Economic Activity, 1997, I, pp.1‑90.
  • A.Wood, "How Trade Hurt Unskilled Workers," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1995, pp.57‑80.
  • A.Wood, North‑South Trade, Employment, and Inequality: Changing Fortunes in a Skill‑Driven World, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1994.
  • R.Freeman, "Are Your Wages Set in Beijing?"Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1995, pp.15‑32.
  • J.G.Williamson, "Globalization and Inequality, Past and Pres­ent," World Bank Research Observer, Vol.12, 1997, 117‑35.
  • J.Bhagwati, and M.H.Kosters, eds., Trade and Wages:Leveling Wages Down?, Washington, DC, AEI Press, 1994.
  • G.Burtless, "International Trade and The Rise in Earnings Inequality," Journal of Economic Literature, Vol.33, 1995, pp.800‑16.
  • R.Feenstra and G.Hanson, "Productivity Measurement and the Impact of Trade and Technology on Wages:estimates for the U.S.1972‑1990," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol.114, 1999, pp.907‑4.
  • J.Haskell and MJ Slaughter, "Trade, Technology and UK Wage Inequality," Economic Journal, Vol.111, 2001, pp.163‑87.
  • Richard Freeman and Lawrence Katz, "Rising Wage Inequality: The United States vs. Other Advanced Countries," in Richard B. Freeman, ed., Working Under Different Rules, 1994.
  • K. Forbes, "A Reassessment of the Relationship Between Inequality and Growth?" American Economic Review, 2000, pp. 869-87.
  • D. Autor, L. Katz, and A. Krueger, "Computing Inequality: Have Computers Change the Labor Market?" Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113, 1169-1213.
  • Paul Krugman, "Technology, Trade and Factor Prices," Journal of International Economics, Vol. 50, 2000. pp. 51-71.
  • A. Berry, ed. Poverty, Economic Reform, and Income Distribution in Latin America, London, Lynne Rienner, 1998.
  • V. Bulmer-Thomas, ed., The New Economic Model in Latin America and Its Impact on Income Distribution and Poverty, London MacMillan, 1996.
  • S. Morley, The Income Distribution Problem in Latin American and the Caribbean, Santiago, ECLA, 2001.

11. Geography and Underdevelopment

To what extent do geographical differences explain divergent growth paths? Is it an accident that the rich countries are outside the tropics?  How important was the initial ecological endowment, or the nature of the disease pool? Was European geography unique? Were some countries disadvantaged by a lack of suitable energy sources? What have been the institutional consequences of differences in climate and environment?

Topics covered:
1. Transport possibilities: inland seas, navigable rivers, the trade winds
2. Sources of energy and power.
3. The problems of the tropics: diseases, population densities, climate.
4. Gender and geography.
5. The institutional legacy of the colonial period.

  • *Acemoglu, D., Johnson, S. and Robinson, J. (2001), "The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation," American Economic Review, 91, pp. 1369-1401.
  • *Engerman, S. and Sokoloff, K. (1997), "Factor Endowments, Institu­tions, and Differential Paths of Growth Among New World Econom­ies:A View from Economic Historians of the United States," in Haber, S. ed. How Latin American Fell Behind.
  • *Krugman, P. and Venables, A. (1995), "Globalisation and the Inequality of Nations", Quaterly Journal of Economics, 110(4), pp.857-880.
  • *Sachs, J. and Gallup, J. (1999), Geography and Economic Development, Harvard Center for International Development Working Paper no. 1; downloadable at
  • Boserup, E. (1970), Women's Role in Economic Development.
  • Bray, F. (1986), The Rice Economies: technology and development in Asian societies.
  • Diamond, J. (1997), Guns, Germs, and Steel.
  • Krugman, P. (1995), Development, Geography and Economic Theory.
  • Fujita, M., Krugman, P. and Venables, A. (2001), The Spatial Economy: Cities, Regions and International Trade.
  • LaPorta, R., Lopez-de-Silenas, F., Shleifer, A. and Vishny, A. (1999), "The Quality of Government", Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, 15, pp.222-279.
  • McNeill, W.H. (1976), Plagues and Peoples.
  • Smil, V. (1994), Energy in World History

12.  When Did Europe Pull Ahead of China?

Was England already much richer than China at the start of the Industrial Revolution or did the divergence in incomes originate later?  Was pre-industrial China held back by poor property rights, bad state policy, peculiarities of its culture, 'feudalism,' or a demographic system that led to over-population?  Conversely, did European imperialism explain England's ascendancy? What happened to incomes in China between 1800 and 1913?  What were the roles of imperialism, civil war, and environmental degradation in explaining that evolution?

  • *K. Pomeranz, The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2000, selections.
  • *R. Lee, "Population in Pre-Industrial England: An Econometric Analysis," Quarterly Journal of Economics, Movember, 1973, pp. 581-607.
  • *J. Lee and W. Feng, One Quarter of Humanity: Malthusian Mythology and Chinese Realities, Harvard, 1999, selections.
  • RC Allen, Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution, 2002, chapter 6.
  • RT Malthus, Essay on Population.
  • G. Boyer, "Malthus was Right After All," Journal of Political Economy, February, 1989, pp. 93-114.
  • R. Findlay and M. Lundhal, "Towards a Factor Proportions Approach to Economic History; Population, Precious Metals and Prices from the Black Death to the Price Revolution" in R. Findlay et al., eds. Bertil Ohlin: A Centennial Celebration, MIT.
  • Hajnal, J.(1965). "European Marriage Patterns in Perspective," in D.V.Glass and D.E.C.Eversley, eds., Population in History, Chicago, Aldine Publishing Company, pp.101‑143.


IV. Catching-Up in Theory and Practice

13.  The Central Planning Alternative

Why did the Soviet economy grow rapidly for most of the twentieth century?  Why did it slow down after 1970?

  • *RC Allen, Farm to Factory: A Reinterpretation of the Soviet Industrial Revolution, 2002, chapters 1, 2, 5, 7, 8, 10.

14. Tariffs, Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property Rights

Topics covered:
1. The role of tariffs in industrialisation: infant industry protection, revenue raising, political economy considerations
2. The need for patents: the case for and against international systems of intellectual property rights.
3. Technology transfer, old and new; the role of multi-national companies.

  • *Capie, F. (1983), "Tariff protection and economic performance in the Nineteenth Century" in  Black, J. and Winters, L.A., Policy and Performance in International Trade.
  • *O'Rourke, K. (2000), "Tariffs and Growth in the Late 19th Century," Economic Journal, 110,  pp.456‑83.
  • *Jeremy, D.A. ed. (1991), International Technology Transfer: Europe. Japan and the USA, 1700-1914, selections.
  • *Webb, S.N. (1980), "Tariffs, cartels and growth in the German steel industry", Journal of Economic History, pp.309-329.
  • Davis, R. (1966), "The Rise of Protection in England, 1689-1786", Economic History Review.
  • Dutton, H. (1984), The patent system and inventive activity during the industrial revolution 1750-1852.
  • Frischtak, C. and Rosenberg, N. eds. (1985), International Technology Transfer: concepts, measurement, comparisons.
  • Harley, C.K. (1992), "The Antebellum American Tariff: food exports and manufacturing", Explorations in Economic History, 29, pp.373-400.
  • Howe, C. (1996), The Origins of Japanese Trade Supremacy.
  • Jeremy, D.A. ed. (1991), International Technology Transfer: Europe. Japan and the USA, 1700-1914.
  • Jeremy, D.A. (1981), Transatlantic Industrial Revolution; the diffusion of textile technologies between Britain and America, 1790-1830s.
  • Lambi, I.V. (1963), "Free Trade and Protection in Germany 1868-1879", Vierteljahrschrift fr Sozial- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte, Beiheft 44.
  • Lanthier, P. (1989), "Multinationals and the French electrical industry", in Teichova, A. et al. eds., Historical Studies in International Corporate Business (vol2.)
  • List, F. (1831 trans. 1983), The Natural System of Political Economy.
  • MacLeod, C. (1988), Inventing the Industrial Revolution: The English Patent System 1660-1800.
  • Morishima, M. (1982), Why has Japan 'succeeded'? Western Technology and the Japanese Ethos
  • Okochi, A. and Uchida, H. (1980) eds. Development and Diffusion of Technology: Electrical and Chemical Industries, International Conference on Business History, 6: articles on Japan by Uchida,  Imazu, Mikami and Paito; article on France by Broder.
  • O'Rourke, K. and Williamson, J. (1999), "Globalisation backlash: tariff responses" in O'Rourke, K. and Williamson, J., Globalisation and History: the evolution of a nineteenth-century Atlantic economy.
  • Rushing, F.W. and Brown, C.G. eds. (1990), Intellectual property rights in science, technology and economic performance: article by Schumann on S.E.Asia.
  • Schiff, E. (1971), Industrialisation without national patents: the Netherlands, 1869-1912; Switzerland, 1850-1907.
  • Taussig, F. (1931), The Tariff History of the United States.
  • Wallerstein, M. et al. eds. (1993), Global dimensions of intellectual property rights in science and technology: articles by David, Sherwood, Frischtak and Mansfield.
  • Wengenroth, U. (1994), Enterprise and Technology: the German and British Steel Industries 1865-1895.

15.  The State and Economic Development in Asia

What is the role of the state in economic development? Why are some states predatory and some developmental? Does catch-up require a higher level of state involvement? What explains corruption?  Why was Japan the most successful of the Asian states in the late nineteenth century? 

Topics covered:
1. Olson's model of the predatory state, and its applicability to Asian development.
2. Gershenkron's view of the role of the state in backward economies.
3. The European impact on Asiatic Empires: Mughal India, Imperial China, Meiji Japan and Ottoman Turkey.
4. China's struggle to reform: the failure to create a national consensus and its consequences.
5. Reasons for the Japanese exception: favourable pre-conditions versus a developmental state explanation.

  • *Olson, M. (1996), "Big Bills Left on the Sidewalk: Why Some Nations are Rich, and Others Poor," Journal of Economic Perspectives, 10, pp. 3-24.
  • *Gerschenkron, A. (1962),  Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspec­tive., selections.
  • *Goldstone, J. (1988), "East and West in the Seventeenth Century: political crises in Stuart England, Ottoman Turkey and Ming China", Comparative Studies in Society and History, 30, pp.103-142.
  • *Lal, D. (1998), Unintended Consequences: the impact of  factor endowments, culture and politics on long run economic performance., selections.
  • Bayley, C.A. (1992), Rulers, Townsmen and Bazaars: North Indian Society in the age of British expansion 1770-1870.
  • Deng, G. (1999), The Premodern Chinese Economy: structural equilibrium and capitalist sterility.
  • Hanley, S.B. and Yamamura, K. (1977), Economic and demographic change in pre-industrial Japan, 1600-1868.
  • Jain, A. (2001), "Corruption: a review", Journal of Economic Surveys, 15(1), pp.71-121.
  • Minami, R. (1986), The Economic Development of Japan: a quantitative study.
  • Mokyr, J. (1992), "Technological inertia in economic history", Journal of Economic History, 52(2), pp. 325-338.
  • Olson, M. (1993), "Dictatorship, democracy and development", American Political Science Review, 87(3), pp.567-576
  • Richardson, P. (1999), Economic Change in China, c1800-1950.
  • Schleifer, A. and Vishny, R. (1993), "Corruption", Quarterly Journal of Economics, 108, pp.599-617.
  • Smith, T.C. (1955), Political Change and Industrial Development in Japan: government enterprise 1868-1880.
  • Smith, T.C. (1988), "Japan's aristocratic revolution", in Smith, T.C., Native Sources of Japanese Industrialisation.
  • Sugihara, K. (1996), "Agriculture and Industrialisation: the Japanese Experience" in Mathias, P. and Davis, J.A. eds. Agriculture and Industrialisation from the Eighteenth Century to the Present Day

16.  Recent Economic Growth in Asia

Was the 'east Asian miracle' the result of limited government or state intervention? Is the term "miracle" justified? What are the prospects for the Chinese economy in the 21st century? Why has China found reform so difficult?

Topics covered:
1. Total factor productivity analysis of East Asian growth.
2. The pace of Chinese growth since the Deng-era reforms.
3. The role of the state: the World Bank report and the debate which followed.
4. Is there an Asian development model?
5. The post-Deng slowdown in Chinese reforms: the state's need for legitimacy and the effect of this on economic policy.

  • *Amsden, A. (2001), The Rise of 'the Rest': Challenges to the West from Late-Industrializing Economies, selections.
  • *Oi, J. (1993), "Reform and urban bias in China", Journal of Development Studies, 29, pp.129-148.
  • *World Bank (1994), The East Asian Miracle: economic growth and public policy, World Bank policy research report, selections.
  • *Young, A. (1995), "The tyranny of numbers: confronting the statistical realities of the East Asian growth experience", Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110, pp.641-680.
  • Amsden, A. (1989),  Asia's Next Giant: South Korea and Late Industrialization.
  • Ash, R. and Kueh, Y. eds. (1996), The Chinese Economy under Deng Xiaoping.
  • Evans, P., Rueschemeyer, D. and Skocpol, T. eds. (1985), Bringing the State Back In.
  • Lardy, N. (1998), China's unfinished economic revolution.
  • Andrew J. Nathan, A.J. and  Link, P. eds. (2001) The Tiananmen Papers.
  • Maddison, A. (1998), Chinese Economic Performance in the long run. OECD development centre study.
  • Oi, J. (1999), Rural China Takes Off: institutional foundations of economic reform.
  • Wade, R. (1990), Governing the Market: economic theory and the role of government in East Asian industrialisation.
  • Wall, D. and Xiangshuo, Y. (1997), "Technology development and export performance: is China a frog or a goose?" in Feinstein, C. and Howe, C., Chinese Technology Transfer in the 1990's: current experience, historical problems and international perspectives.
  • Young, A. (1992), "A tale of two cities: factor accumulation and technical change in Hong Kong and Singapore", NBER Macroeconomics Annual, pp.13-54.
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